Top Parliament Official Killed in Copter Crash
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The speaker of Parliament’s lower house, G.M.C. Balayogi, was killed when his helicopter crashed into a pond in southern India, police said.
The helicopter developed a technical problem while flying to the Andhra Pradesh state capital, Hyderabad. Balayogi was en route from a meeting in the town of Bhimavaram, police said.
The helicopter hit a coconut tree and crashed into a fishpond minutes after taking off. The weather was reported to be bad. The pilot and the speaker’s personal assistant were also killed. Balayogi, 50, was the first lower-caste member to be elected speaker of the lower house, the Lok Sabha. He was elected for a second term in 1999.
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