The Indian Chief of General Staff, General Bipin Rawat, is dead, as are his wife and 11 other officers, despite initial reports that he had been recovered and taken to hospital.

Yesterday the news had spread that the general had been found in the wreckage and was still alive.

It is ultimately unclear whether he was killed instantly in the fall or whether he died later.

They were killed in the crash of a Mi-17V5 military helicopter that went down yesterday in Kunur in India‘s Tamil Nadu state.

A video has been released showing the crash of the helicopter.

In the video a man is heard saying, “What happened? Did it fall or crash?”

General Rawat, accompanied by his wife Madulika and the other officers, was on his way to the Military Staff Academy to speak to the students. Only one survived the crash, Captain Varun Singh.