India News | Jaisalmer: Rajasthan City Witness to Multiple Plane Crashes
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Jaisalmer has been a witness to multiple incidents of plane crash but it was for the first time when a fighter aircraft has crashed close to residential areas in the city, the local MLA said on Tuesday.
Jaisalmer, Mar 12 (PTI) Jaisalmer has been a witness to multiple incidents of plane crash but it was for the first time when a fighter aircraft has crashed close to residential areas in the city, the local MLA said on Tuesday.
Located on the Pakistan border on the western front, Jaisalmer is geographically the largest district of Rajasthan and is famous for sand dunes that attract scores of tourists from India and abroad.
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A Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Indian Air Force crashed on a portion of a hostel building, located near Kalla and Jawahar residential colonies here. However, there was no loss of life in the incident.
The crash took place around 100 km from the Pokhran desert where a mega war game 'Bharat Shakti' witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military brass was underway.
Jaisalmer MLA Chhotu Singh Bhati told PTI that the incident site is located around one km from the downtown and this is the first time when a crash has happened in such a close vicinity of the city.
"The plane crashed into the ground of the hostel in which a portion of the hostel was also damaged. There was no one in the rooms which were hit in the crash. However, some students were present in other rooms," he said.
Jaisalmer has a scattered population. There are residential areas all around the incident site and are only a few hundred metres away.
"If the plane had fallen on the populated area, there could have been huge loss of lives and properties. But I consider it the pilot's wisdom, and God's blessings that all are safe. We have blessings of our deity Baba Ramdev and Tanot Mata," he said.
Bhati said that he along with others was returning from Jaisalmer Air Force station after receiving PM Modi when he got the information about the crash and headed directly to the site.
Jaisalmer Additional Superintendent of Police Mahendra Singh said that there was no loss of human life in the crash.
Thick smoke was seen billowing out where the aircraft crashed.
Officials said it was the first Tejas jet involved in an accident.
"A Tejas Light Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Jaisalmer today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely," the IAF said.
"A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident," it said.
An eyewitness said that the pilot ejected shortly before the plane crashed.
"As soon as the plane hit the ground, there was a loud sound," he said.
Locals gathered at the site soon after the incident even as police cordoned off the area. Fire brigades were rushed to the site and flames were doused.
A man also shot a video using his mobile phone in which the pilot with parachute is seen going down and the plane flying down without the pilot.
There is also an industrial area near the site of the incident.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)