Four killed in Himalayan chopper crash

Shimla, India - Four people - two of them tourists - died when the private helicopter in which they were taking a joyride in the Himalayan mountains in northern India crashed on Tuesday, according to local officials.

The chopper apparently clipped an overhead cable used for logging in a mountainous area near the town of Manali, in Himachal Pradesh state, said Manjeev Bhalla, general manager of Himalayan Heli Services which owned the aircraft.

He said the helicopter was flying near the breathtaking Kullu valley when the accident occurred.

"The helicopter could have touched an overhead cable, that could have caused the crash," Bhalla said .

The helicopter broke up on impact and the wreckage was scattered along a river bank, about a kilometre from the village of Prini, where Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has a holiday home.

Bhalla said the pilot was an Indian national but he was not able immediately to give the nationalities of the two tourists who died in the accident.

The fourth victim was a receptionist at a Manali hotel who had come along for the ride, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. - Sapa-AFP