Faridabad, May 26: Ten persons including all seven onboard a small civil chartered aircraft were killed when the medical ambulance flight to Delhi from Patna crashed into a densely-populated residential area in bad weather near here tonight.
Faridabad's SDM Pradeep said three persons on ground were among the dead when the P-12 turboprop aircraft belonging to Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Pvt Limted crashed in Jawaharnagar locality near the IAF station at around 1035 PM shortly before landing at IGI airport in Delhi. Two persons were also injured in the crash. The persons who lost their lives on the ground are believed to be residents of the houses hit by the plane.
According to Delhi airport sources, the airplane lost control and nosedived from a height of about 8,000 feet fifteen minutes before landing. There was strong gusty winds due to a duststorm at the time of the crash. The plane caught fire as soon as it crashed on two houses sending up plumes of smoke.
The airplane was ferrying a critically ill patient Rahul Raj, a young Patna-based businessman, to be taken to Apollo Hospital in New Delhi for further medical management. Raj, who was in coma, was undergoing treatment in Patna's Jagdish Memorial hospital. The airplane was arranged by Apollo Hospital.
Besides the two pilots, two doctors and two medical attendants accompanying the patient were on board the ill-fated aircraft. The plane was piloted by Harpreeet with Manjeet Kataria as the co-pilot.Dr Arshad and Dr Rajesh were the doctors while Ratnesh Kumar and Shiril the medical attendants.The bodies of all the 10 victims were charred beyond recognition, according to Faridabad Police Commissioner P K Agarwal.
Among the deceased, male nurse Cyril hailed from Kerala while pilot Manjeet and co-pilot Harpreet hailed from Ludhiana and Delhi respectively.
The patient Rahul raj and his relative Ratnesh Kumar hailed from Bettiah, Bihar, while the accompanying doctors Dr Arshad was from Kashmir and Dr Rajesh Jain from Ghaziabad.
The Haryana government has announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia each to the three women who died on the ground in Faridabad.
The Haryana government today announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each for the three residents of the city who were killed when the air ambulance crashed into their house.
Besides the compensation, government job will also be given to one member of the family of Sobhraj Sehrawat whose house suffered damage in the crash, Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar said. A sum of Rs 20,000 each will be given to those injured.
State Labour Minister Shiv Charan Sharma said the government would rebuild the house of Sehrawat.
“There should be a proper inquiry into the incident.I would not blame anybody for the incident. It is bad luck,” Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Badhana told reporters Sehrawat's house, in which three women were killed, was the worst hit by the crash.
55-year-old Vedvati, her daughter Sarita (19) and daughter-in-law Rani (20) were killed in the crash.
Besides the compensation of Rs two lakh each for the three, government job will also be given to one member of the family of Sobha Ram Sehrawat whose house was the worst-hit in the crash, Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar said adding, Rs 20,000 each will be given to those injured.
Haryana Labour Minister Shiv Charan Sharma said the government would rebuild the house of Sehrawat whose wife, daughter and daughter-in-law died in the mishap.
The Air Chartered Services India Limited, from which the plane was hired by Apollo Hospital, also announced Rs two lakh each as compensation for the family of the victims and Rs 25,000 for the injured, according to Sunil Gaur, Director (Operations) of the company.
"We have informed the authorities regarding the compensation of Rs two lakh each for the kin of deceased and Rs 25,000 for the injured. The families of other seven victims, who were onboard the aircraft, would get the insured amount as per the arrangement," he said. PTI
