Bodies of five more armed forces personnel killed in chopper crash identified
New Delhi(PTI): The bodies of five more armed forces personnel, killed in the IAF chopper crash near Coonoor, were identified and they are being transported to their respective home towns, military officials said on Saturday.
Efforts to "positively identify" remaining mortal remains are continuing, they said.
The armed forces personnel whose bodies were identified in the last few hours are Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Pradeep, Wing Commander P S Chauhan, JWO Rana Pratap Das, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar.
"The mortal remains of the five personnel were released to close family members this morning," said a senior military official.
The bodies are being taken to the home towns of the five personnel by air for last rites with appropriate military honour, the officials said.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and his Defence Adviser Brigadier LS Lidder were among the 13 people killed in the crash.
As per plan, the mortal remains of JWO Pradeep will reach Sulur at around 11 am, while the body of Wing Commander Chauhan is expected to reach Agra at 9:45 am, the officials said.
The body of JWO Das will be flown to Bhubaneswar and the aircraft carrying it is expected to land there at 1 pm.
The mortal remains of Lance Naik B Sai Teja will reach Bangalore at around 12:30 pm and that of Lance Naik Vivek Kumar will reach Gaggal in Himachal Pradesh at 11:30 am, the officials said.
Gen Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and Brig Lidder were cremated with full military honours at Delhi's Brar Square Crematorium on Friday evening.
The mortal remains of all the 13 people killed in the air accident were brought to Delhi from Sulur in Tamil Nadu on Thursday evening, a day after the crash.
The unidentified bodies were kept in the mortuary of the Army Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment.
The officials said tributes will be paid to the personnel at Base Hospital before the bodies are sent to their home towns.
The Army and the Air Force carried out the identification of the bodies keeping in mind the sensitivities and emotional well-being of the family members.
The personnel whose bodies are yet to be identified are Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Squadron Leader K Singh, Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh and Naik Jitender Kumar.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
