HYDERABAD: Rescuers retrieved the bodies on Thursday of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and four others after the helicopter carrying them crashed in dense jungle in southern India during a pounding rainstorm on Wednesday.
State Finance Minister K. Rosaiah was sworn in as the acting chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. But the state Cabinet passed a resolution urging the Congress party’s central leadership to make his son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy the next chief minister.
The Cabinet meeting, presided over by K. Rosaiah, passed the resolution demanding that Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy be named successor to his father.
Reddy’s helicopter had lost contact with air traffic controllers Wednesday morning, setting off a frantic 24-hour search operation involving the army, air force and police in an area packed with Maoist rebels.
On Thursday morning, they finally reached the crash site after hacking through hilly jungle. They found the mangled remains of the chopper and charred bodies of all five people on board, including 60-year-old Reddy.
He was accompanied by a bodyguard, an aide and two pilots. The bodies were flown to the state capital Hyderabad and a state funeral was planned for Friday, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said.
Officials have yet to establish the cause, but say the privately owned chopper likely crashed because of bad weather. It lost contact with air traffic controllers about 45 minutes into the flight after taking off from Hyderabad.
“We are in deep mourning. We have a deep sense of grief, shock and loss at the passing away of the chief minister, and a tall leader of the Congress Party,” Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi, referring to the ruling party.
— With input from agencies
