Richest Czech man among 5 killed in Alaska helicopter crash
Anchorage (US): A contracted helicopter carrying guides and guests from a lodge on a heli-skiing trip in Alaska's backcountry crashed, killing the pilot and four others, including the Czech Republic's richest man.
The only other person onboard was in serious condition but stable Sunday at an Anchorage hospital, Alaska State Troopers said.
The five killed in the Saturday accident were identified as Gregory Harms, 52, of Colorado; Petr Kellner, 56, and Benjamin Larochaix, 50, both of the Czech Republic, and two Alaskans, Sean McMannany, 38, of Girdwood, and the pilot, Zachary Russel, 33, of Anchorage, troopers said Sunday.
The five passengers included three guests and two guides from Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, said company spokesperson Mary Ann Pruitt.
Kellner was a billionaire businessman and financier with a net worth over 17 billion, according to the Forbes 2020 list of the world's richest people.
Kellner and Larochaix were loyal and frequent guests at the lodge, Pruitt said in an email to the Associated Press.
Harms was a pioneering heli-ski guide in Alaska and worked for many years at the lodge, Pruitt said. Greg was one of the most experienced guides in the business, she said. He also founded a heli-ski company that led trips across the world.
McMannany had been a guide for over 10 years, and was with the lodge for the last five, she said. He was also an avalanche instructor and an experienced mountain guide on Denali, North America's tallest peak.
Russel was a pilot for Soloy Helicopters, a Wasilla-based company that is contracted by the lodge to provide transportation, Pruitt said.
This news is devastating to our staff, the community in which we operate and the families of the deceased, a statement released by the lodge said.
The Eurocopter AS50 crashed under unknown circumstances about 50 miles (80 km) east of Anchorage at 6:35 pm Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. Authorities said the crash site was near Knik Glacier.
The lodge is located about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Anchorage, on Judd Lake. The company website bills itself as the longest operating heli-skiing lodge in Alaska, promising deep powder, pristine runs on some of the best mountain terrain in the world. An unparalleled alpine adventure is only a helicopter ride away, the website says. Packages start at 15,000 per person.
The statement from lodge said this was the first time in its 17 years in business we've had to face an event of this measure.
Soloy Helicopters has a fleet of 19 helicopters providing charter services primarily in Alaska.
Its website says it provides support to government and industry, specializing in work for seismic oil drilling exploration programs. Soloy Helicopters did not immediately respond to an email to The Associated Press seeking comment Sunday.
Alaska State Troopers said in a statement Sunday that they received a report of an overdue helicopter and the location of possible crash debris Saturday night.
A rescue team from Alaska Rescue Coordination Centre was dispatched to the crash site in the area of Knik Glacier just after 10 pm, troopers wrote. The team arrived to find five occupants dead and a sole survivor, who was taken to a hospital.
The Alaska Army National Guard and volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group recovered the bodies from the crash site Sunday and turned them over to the state medical examiner.
A temporary flight restriction placed over the glacier has been lifted, troopers said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the case of the crash. (AP)
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
