India, Oct. 30 -- A helicopter carrying five pilgrims from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed near Chayee village close to Joshimath on Friday amid adverse weather conditions, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said. The incident was reported amid deteriorating weather conditions in the region.

Dheeraj Karki, district information officer, Chamoli, said the helicopter was returning from Badrinath Dham when contact with it was lost. The helicopter had six people on board, including pilot Capt Himanshu and five passengers- Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and HS Natraja.

The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd and bearing call sign VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at around 1.14 pm for Sahastradhara in Dehra...