India helicopter crash kills six in Himalayas

A helicopter carrying six people from the Hindu holy town of Badrinath crashed in the Indian Himalayas on Friday, killing everyone on board, officials said.

State police said five passengers and one pilot were killed when the aircraft came down near a valley in Joshimath in Uttarakhand state. Police said efforts were under way to move the bodies from the inaccessible crash site to the nearest road.

Authorities did not say what caused the crash. India’s weather department had forecast widespread rainfall in Uttarakhand on Friday, two days after Cyclone Arnab made landfall on India’s southeastern coast.

Uttarakhand is home to several Hindu pilgrimage sites, including Badrinath, whose temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu attracts millions of pilgrims each year. Helicopter charter firms serve pilgrims who want to visit mountain shrines without long treks.