An Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 combat jet crashed in Himachal Pradesh'sLahaul Valley during a night flying exercise but the wreckage is yet to be located, officials said Wednesday. There was no immediate word on the fate of the pilot.
'Two IAF choppers were pressed into operation this (Wednesday) morning. After recceing the mountains for more than two hours, the choppers have returned back to their base,' Lahul Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Shankar told IANS over the phone.
A search was also conducted in the adjacent Chamba district but this too was unsuccessful.
'Since the peaks are lofty and the peaks are narrow, it's really challenging to locate the missing aircraft,' Chamba Additional District Magistrate Neeraj Kumar said.
Earlier, the Chamba district administration had sent a team of trekkers to the Bharmour area to locate the aircraft's wreckage. Another team was sent to the Kugti wildlife sanctuary but both returned empty handed.
Lahul Superintendent of Police Bimal Gupta said a communication that a MiG-29 had crashed somewhere in the Lahaul Valley was received from the IAF at around 8.30 p.m. Tuesday.
He said Chokhang village was zeroed in on as locals informed police that they noticed a fireball in the sky and heard a loud sound.
Chokhang village on the Keylong-Udaipur highway is about 40 km from the district headquarters of Keylong and 450 km from here.
The distance between Chokhang and Bharmour is a mere two kilometres.
No comments:
Post a Comment