UP CM Adityanath pays tribute to air warriors killed in AN-32 crash

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday paid tributes to the 13 people, including one from Lucknow, on board the ill-fated AN-32 aircraft of the IAF that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh.

In a statement issued here, Adityanath said he saluted them. He also conveyed his condolences to the family members of Non-Combatant Putali, a resident of the Bakshi Ka Talab area of the state capital.

All 13 occupants of the aircraft died in the crash, the IAF said after a team of rescuers searched the wreckage of the plane in a heavily forested mountainous terrain of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday.

Those who died in the crash are Wing Commander G M Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenants L R Thapa, MK Garg, Ashish Tanwar and Sumit Mohanty, Warrant officer K K Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, LAC (leading aircraft man) SK Singh, LAC Pankaj, and non combatants Rajesh Kumar and Putali.

 

The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact around half-an-hour after taking off.

The wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper on Tuesday.