An Indian Army major died after a helicopter carrying Border Security Force personnel crashed in the Gurez sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday afternoon, reported ANI. The pilot of the helicopter has been injured.

The deceased, identified as 29-year-old Major Sankalp Yadav, was the co-pilot of the Army’s Cheetah helicopter. He died at Srinagar’s 92 Base Hospital, while under treatment for his injuries.

Yadav was commissioned into the Indian Army in 2015. He was a resident of Jaipur and is survived by his father.

The condition of the injured pilot was critical but stable, the public relations officer for defence ministry in Srinagar said. He has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Srinagar hospital.

After the helicopter crashed, an operation was launched to rescue the Border Security Force personnel. The defence official said that the helicopter was on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from a forward post at the when it crashed.

“The pilots were responding to a medical emergency of the force,” said BSF Inspector General (Kashmir Frontier) Raja Babu Singh, reported PTI. “I am pained beyond words and I salute the dedication and bravery of the pilots who undertake such difficult evacuation operations.”

The defence official said that the wreckage of the crashed helicopter was found in a snow-bound Gujran Nallah area of Bandipora district.

The cause of the crash was not known immediately. The official said that the events leading to the crash was being ascertained.