NRI businessman Yusuff Ali visits site of chopper crash in Kerala, meets residents

Kochi: Business tycoon M A Yusuff Ali on Sunday visited the residents of Panangad here, where his chopper had crash-landed in April this year.

Yusuff Ali expressed his gratitude to Rajesh and Biji, the couple who had stepped forward to help him braving heavy rains on that day.

"It was Rajesh, who reached the spot first. He helped us get out of the chopper and took us to his house nearby. Biji rushed to the nearby police station and informed the police. The residents of the Panangad region engaged in rescue operations without any hesitation," Yusuff Ali told the media.

He spent around 20 minutes at the couple's house and later met Peter, the owner of the marshland, where the chopper had crash-landed.

The helicopter carrying Yusuff Ali, his wife and four others crash-landed at a marshy land here at around 9 AM on April 11.

All passengers including Yusuff Ali, who is Chairman of international retail group Lulu Group, his wife and two other passengers along with two pilots onboard the chopper owned by the company were admitted to a private hospital here.

Due to the sudden deterioration of weather conditions and heavy rains, the experienced pilots decided to make a precautionary landing at a safe place to prevent any risk to the life of the passengers or public at large," Lulu Group had said in a statement.

Yusuff Ali's Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group that owns Lulu Hypermarkets and shopping malls is one of the top retailers in the Middle East and North African region (MENA).

It has more than 200 Hypermarkets and Supermarkets in Gulf countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and employs over 58,000 people from various countries and has logistics centres in the US, the UK, Spain, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand etc.