Irish man killed in Indian helicopter crash

An Irish man today died along with three other people when a helicopter crashed on its way to a northern Indian ski resort, police said.

Those killed were John Murphy - it is not yet known where he was from - Plaza S Castano, a Colombian woman, Madhavi Gautam, a local hotel receptionist, and pilot Kishen Tomar, said police officer Khem Chand, when reached by the phone in Manali, a hill resort in Himachal Pradesh state.

The helicopter, owned by the Himalayan Heli Service Company, took off in clear weather from a hotel helipad near Manali, 225 miles north of New Delhi, Mr Chand said.

It lost contact with air traffic control after 15 minutes on its way to Sathan, a skiing resort.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.