Air Force Chopper Crash Lands in Bihar's Muzaffarpur While Dropping Flood Relief | Video

Muzaffarpur: An Air Force helicopter, tasked with delivering relief material to flood victims in Bihar , crashed in the Aurai police station area. The incident has sparked alarm and chaos among local residents. Emergency services were alerted shortly after the crash, and efforts are underway to reach the site. However, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have faced challenges due to high water levels in the area, hindering their access.

“We immediately rushed here and started our relief measures. The chopper was coming here to provide food and relief to the flood victims. We are here to evacuate people. The rescue operations are underway,” said the SDRF team. 

According to Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar the helicopter was coming from adjoining Darbhanga after air-dropping relief material.

"The helicopter made an emergency landing in a water-logged area in Aurai block. All the occupants were IAF personnel and they were pulled out by locals by the time officials reached the spot," said the SSP.

District Magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen said, "All four occupants appear safe and unharmed. However, as a precaution, they are being taken to a local hospital for check-up and treatment, if required." 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of the state where large swathes of land have been inundated following the release of water from a barrage along the border with Nepal.

Kumar, who was accompanied by Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Additional Chief Secretary, Disaster Management, Pratyay Amrit, took stock of the relief and rehabilitation work in over a dozen districts situated along Gandak and Kosi rivers which have been in spate for the past few days.

The chief minister instructed officials concerned to accord top priority to providing affected people with relief items such as food packets, medicines and polythene sheets.

He said in areas which have become inaccessible through boats, arrangements should be made to air-drop these items with help from Indian Air Force.

He also called for maintaining hygiene and proper lighting arrangements at relief camps and making shift toilets and community kitchens which have been set up in view of the calamity.

About 10 lakh people across 16 districts of the state have been affected by the flash floods caused by the release of millions of cusecs of water, over the past few days, by Nepal which has received unprecedented rainfall.

Although no fatalities have been reported so far from the flood-hit regions, breaches in embankments at several places have been a cause for alarm.