india

Updated: Jun 20, 2019 22:45 IST

Six bodies and the remains of seven crew members on board the Indian Air Force’s AN-32 transport aircraft that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on June 3 have been recovered from the crash site in the Pari mountain range of Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district, a senior air force official said.

The AN-32 aircraft took off from Jorhat in Assam on June 3 and was on its way to an advanced landing ground at Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi Yomi district when it lost contact with ground control.

The team, which had been searching for wreckage of the aircraft and remains of the 13 personnel on board the Russian-made aircraft, made the recovery late on Wednesday near Siang.

A mountaineering team trekked to the crash spot after being air dropped at a nearby location after two failed attempts.

According to Siang deputy commissioner Rajiv Takuk, the bodies were airlifted to Aalo on Wednesday around 5 pm, while the process to bring the remains of seven others was still underway. “The six bodies will be likely taken to IAF airbase at Jorhat in Assam on Thursday,” Takuk said, adding that lack of network in the mountains made communication difficult from the crash site. Last week, the IAF had announced that cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder - commonly known as the black box - have been recovered from the crash site.

As the weather conditions improved in the hills, the IAF personnel and Army officers will be able to carry out their operation without disruption, Takuk hoped. “Getting updates from the site of operation is a cumbersome task with no road connectivity or mobile network in the region, but the improved weather condition would aid the IAF officers to carry out the remaining operation without much disruption,” he added.

(With agency inputs)