Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday visited IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, at the Air Force's Command Hospital here, and enquired about his health.
Singh is the lone survivor in the IAF helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others.
The Governor and the CM visited Command Hospital here and inquired about Singh's health, the CMO statement said.
Initially admitted to a hospital at Wellington in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu, Singh was shifted to Bengaluru on Thursday evening, for higher treatment.
The recipient of the Shaurya Chakra, a Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, is battling for life with 80-85 per cent burns, said a senior Tamil Nadu government official.
On Wednesday, the team of doctors that treated Singh had said that the next 48 hours were critical.
Singh had been recently promoted from Wing Commander to Group Captain and had recently joined the DSSC.
He was air-lifted to Bengaluru from Coimbatore for higher treatment at the Command Hospital here, official sources said.
Singh was undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Wellington for 80 per cent burns and his condition was said to be "critical but stable," they said.
Group Captain Varun Singh had earlier survived a life-threatening emergency while flying a Tejas aircraft during a test sortie last year. For his bravery, he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra this year.
The deaths of other 13 passengers of the chopper, including Chief of Defence Staff, Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat had been confirmed by Wednesday evening.
The post-mortem was performed by the military doctors at the Military Hospital in Coonoor in the presence of a state government doctor and police officials as per the procedure.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told Parliament that a tri-services inquiry led by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh has started an investigation into the helicopter crash.
Singh said in a statement in the Lok Sabha that all efforts were being made to save Group Captain Varun Singh, who was on life support at the military hospital in Wellington.
