6 bodies, remains of 7 AN-32 victims retrieved

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.

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.

A mountaineering team reached at a location near the crash site of the AN-32 aircraft in West Siang on June 12. (ANI file)

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.

(With agency inputs)