One killed, 9 injured as unidentified aircraft crashes in Bathinda village

The deceased was identified by villagers as Govind Kumar, who hailed from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana and was working as a farm labourer in the village.

A civilian was killed and nine others were injured after an unidentified aircraft crashed and went up in flames in the Aklian Kalan village of Bathinda district in Punjab early on Wednesday, said senior medical officer, government hospital at Goniana, Dr Dheera Gupta.

​Air Force team investigating the fighter jet that crashed in Aklia village near Goniana Mandi in Bathinda on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The deceased was identified by villagers as Govind Kumar, who hailed from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana and was working as a farm labourer in the village. There was no information about the pilot till the filing of this report.

The aircraft crashed into the harvested wheat fields, about 500 meters from inhabited areas, around 2am, said villagers and district administration officials, on a condition of anonymity.

The crash site is about 20km from the strategically located air force station at Bathinda’s Bhisiana, and also the district headquarters. The crash took place roughly half-an-hour after India struck terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

The district administration remained tight-lipped about the aircraft’s identity, stating that any comment on the incident will be issued only by the defence authorities.

Defence personnel and police teams from Bathinda and Faridkot cordoned off the crash site and fire tenders were pressed into action.

The victim was rushed to the public health centre in Goniana, where he was declared dead on arrival. The injured were rushed to Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital, from where at least one was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, said district officials.