india

Updated: Jun 12, 2019 20:32 IST

Bad weather and harsh terrain on Wednesday prevented a search and rescue operations from reaching the site of the crash of an AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air force in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district, the IAF said.

“Today #IAF mobilised 15 personnel for rescue operations of #An32 crash. The rescuers are expected to reach the crash site by tonight. The terrain weather &thick vegetation is slowing down the progress of rescue team. IAF is making every effort possible to reach the site,” the IAF tweeted in the evening.

Earlier in the day, it had said in a statement that the first rescuers had reached the site of the crash of an AN-32 transport aircraft to look for survivors.

The IAF launched a major search and rescue operation for survivors after the wreckage of the aircraft which crashed on June 3 with 13 people on board was spotted on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the IAF said the wreckage was located at a height of 12,000 feet near a small village called Lipo. The flight which was bound for an advanced landing ground at Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh went missing around 1 pm on June 3 after it took off from Jorhat in Assam.

The terrain and bad weather had earlier hampered search operations for the aircraft.

The first aerial image of the crash site shows debris from the aircraft and charred trees, indicating a big fire after the plane went down.