By IANS,
Dubai : Two Indians, who along with five others were killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of Dubai Sep 3, have been identified.
The two Indians who were killed in the crash that occurred as the helicopter was taking off from an offshore oilfield have been identified as Julius Alex Pereira and Jayant Ingale, according to a joint statement issued by Dubai Petroleum and four other firms which employed the victims.
While Ingale was an employee of global oilfield services company Baker Hughes, Pereira worked with offshore drilling contractor Noble Drilling.
“The companies express their condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives and will focus their combined efforts on supporting all of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” the companies said in the statement.
Others killed in the accident were the pilots of the helicopter that belonged to Aerogulf Services – Briton Christopher Brown and Venezuelan Luis lovera. Another Briton, Adam Rae Ruff, was a colleague of Pereira at Noble Drilling.
The other two who died in the crash were Shuja Ur Rehman from Pakistan and Disodado Buhangin from the Philippines – both personnel of oil and gas services contractor Product Services Network (PSN).
“The relatives of the deceased were notified on Thursday, September 4. In addition all embassies and consulates have also since been notified. Many of the relatives are already in Dubai or are currently en route to the emirate,” the statement said.
“The primary concern for Dubai Petroleum and all the employer companies is to support the families of the deceased at this very difficult time and to secure the release of the bodies,” it added.
The Bell 212 helicopter had crashed into an offshore oil rig 50 nautical miles from this Middle Eastern metropolis at 8.20 p.m. Sep 3.
In a statement, Petrofac, the service operator for Dubai Petroleum, had said the incident occurred when the helicopter with the seven people on board was on a routine infield flight to the Rashid oilfield 70 km from the coast of Dubai.
During take-off, the helicopter crashed onto the deck of a jack-up drilling rig. The aircraft then broke up and fell into the sea. The bodies were recovered in the course of a daylong operation Sep 4.