The rescue effort by Nilgiris villagers after Wednesday’s chopper crash near Coonoor that killed General Bipin Rawat and 12 others has earned praise from local army circles.

“The civilians (villagers) were already in location trying to rescue people from a raging fire. The civilians showed no fear and were like super humans. Each young boy getting into and trying to douse the fire. Some even having minor burns,” Brigadier (retd) Neil John, a military analyst based in Wellington, Ooty, wrote in a message on Thursday.

“Carrying the injured uphill and through dense underbrush. The ambulance drivers just swarmed in, some of them just hearing of the crash without being asked. The act of selflessness of the civilians of the Nilgiris will always be saluted by all military men. You might not be in uniform, but the courage and fortitude on display was impeccable and stupendous.”

Brig. John was formerly attached to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington that Gen. Rawat was to visit on Wednesday.

On Thursday thousands flanked a national highway, many of them throwing flowers, as 13 ambulances ferried the bodies of the 13 crash victims from the DSSC to the Sulur airbase in Coimbatore. From there, the bodies were flown on an air force aircraft to Delhi.

“Due to bad weather, they couldn’t be flown by helicopter (to Sulur),” Brig. John wrote.

On Wednesday’s crash, he said: “The CO (commanding officer) of the squadron was flying the helicopter with hundreds of (hours of) flying experience and considerable amount of pre-reconnaissance of the flight path. Weather at Wellington was clear. The helicopter has to gain immediate altitude and fly through a deep ravine to clear the crest to land at the helipad at the Wellington Golf Club, Coonoor.

“While the crest was being approached, there seems to have been fog which in this place is normal in this season. The fog rolls down the hills, that is, from the top (it) moves down. No one knows why the helicopter crashed. But let me assure you, there is no truth in all the stories of enemy actions…. Please let the air force conduct its inquiry and analysis.”

While a tri-services inquiry has been ordered, Tamil Nadu police will conduct a “civil investigation,” sources said.