NEW DELHI: The nation is paying homage to Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and other 11 armed force personnel who died in a copter crash on Wednesday. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, national advisor Ajit Doval and others paid their respects to the bodies when arrived at Palam Airbase.

The three service chiefs-- Army Chief Gen M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari also paid their respects to Rawat and others who died in the chopper crash.

After keeping the bodies of Rawat and his wife at their residence in Kamraj Marg for the people to pay homage, it will be taken to Brar Square Crematorium in Delhi Cantonment and will be laid to rest at 3 pm. After obtaining the DNA results of the others killed, the bodies will be taken to their respective places.

Last rites of Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder, defence assistant to General Rawat, would be held at Delhi Cantonment at 9.15 am today.

Besides Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and Brigadier Lidder, Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja were killed in the crash.

Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor from the crash, has been shifted to Air Force Command hospital at Bengaluru for treatment.

A joint panel of the three forces has launched an investigation to clear the mystery of the helicopter crash that killed 13 people, including Rawat and his wife. The probe will be headed by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh.