Indian Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat was killed after a Mi-17V5 military helicopter that was carrying senior defense officers crashed at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.

“Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defense Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country,” Singh tweeted.

A military helicopter crashed in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, killing 13 people on board. One Air Force officer survived and is being treated in a military hospital.