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Wreckage of Arunachal chopper found: All passengers dead

Arunachal Pradesh Education Minister Dera Natung and six others onboard the Pawan Hans chopper which went missing on Tuesday were feared killed as mutilated bodies were recovered in West Kameng district on Wednesday, official sources said in Itanagar.

The bodies, however, could not be identified, they said, adding the wreckage was sighted in the wee hours of Thursday.

All the seven passengers, including Natung and two crew members, are feared dead, acting chief secretary Tamam Bam said.

Besides Natung, the others were deputy secretary of the Union ministry of human resource development S K Jain, state Education Secretary Sange Lhaden and Times of India group deputy managing director Nandita Judge and social worker Nityananda Trihan. Capt V K Dhir and Capt R P Singh were the pilots.

The wreckage of the chopper was sighted around 5 am about 5 km down the main road at Sessa, the sources said.

The rescue party has reached the spot but work was being impeded as the area is surrounded by thick forests, they added.

The chopper went missing 15 minutes after take off from here amidst reports of inclement weather on its flight path to Rupa in West Kameng district.

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