Nepalgunj, August 14

An Indian national on a pilgrimage to Manasarovar in Tibet was killed on the spot when he was struck by a helicopter’s rotor blades at Hilsa of Namkha Rural Municipality, Humla, today, police said.

According to Inspector Gindra Bahadur Bogati of Humla District Police Office, Nagendra Kumar Kartike Mehta, 42, a resident of Mumbai in India, died on the spot when the chopper rotor blades struck him on the head.

Six Indian nationals, including Mehta, had boarded a Manang Air chopper from Humla district headquarters Simikot for Hilsa for the Manasarovar pilgrimage.

“Upon touchdown at 3:18pm, the passengers were alighting from the chopper when Mehta was accidentally hit by the chopper’s tail rotor blades and was killed on the spot,” said the inspector.

“As he was very tall, the incident might have been caused due to lack of precaution on his part,” he added.

The inspector added that the body would be sent to the district hospital after preparing an incident report. “Once his kin are informed, we will hand over the body to them,” he added.