Indian air force helicopter crashes killing eight people on rescue mission as death toll from floods reaches 1,000

An air force helicopter returning from a rescue mission in flood-ravaged northern India hit the side of a mountain and fell into a river today, killing eight people, officials said.

Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts in Uttarakhand state, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have died and thousands of others remain stranded in remote areas from landslides and floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains. 

             Indian army personnel help stranded people cross a flooded river after heavy rains in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand

Other air force helicopters were unable to take off due to poor visibility, Group Capt Sandeep Mehta said.

Troops are also trying to rescue about 5,000 people who remain stranded in Badrinath town eight days after the torrential rains began.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the death toll in the Uttarakhand floods would exceed 1,000.

So far the army has rescued about 90,000 people from hundreds of villages and small towns hit by the flood