Kruti Barad, a woman from Gujarat, was one of the victims of the helicopter crash that took place in Phata, near Kedarnath, in Uttarakhand.

Kruti had turned 30 on the same day she died in the crash. The single-daughter, her cousin Urvi Barad (25), and the latter’s friend Purva Ramanuj (26) were flying back from Kedarnath to Guptakashi when the helicopter crashed.

“Kruti was our only child and it was her birthday today [Tuesday]. I made a video call to her at 9 am to wish her. She helped us have ‘darshan’ of Kedarnath via phone and wanted to show us the surroundings too. But I cut the call saying I was short of time,” Kruti’s father Kamlesh Barad told the Indian Express. Kruti’s father is a lineman with the Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL).

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Kruti was a school teacher in Bhavnagar city. Her cousin Urvi was employed with an IT company after completing her degree in computer science from Sardar Patel University. Urvi’s classmate Purva was preparing to go to Canada, her family members said.

Kruti’s father said that the trio left on October 15 by bus from Bhavnagar and boarded a train from Ahmedabad the same day. They flew to Kedarnath on Monday and were flying back when the tragic crash occurred.

The helicopter burst into flames close to Garud Chatti and Jungle Chatti, Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh said. The chopper – Bell 407 (VT-RPN) – was operated by Aryan Aviation.

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Among the victims were three people from Tamil Nadu – identified as Prem Kumar Vanchinathan, 63, his wife Sujatha Premkumar, 56, from Santham Colony, Thirumangalam, and her cousin Kala Ramesh, 55, of Balakrishna Street, Mylapore.

The pilot, identified as Captain Anil Singh, also died in the crash.