10 dead as chartered plane crashes in India

NEW DELHI — A chartered Indian aircraft carrying military personnel exploded in a fireball and killed all 10 people on board after crashing on Tuesday near New Delhi’s main airport, a minister said. The small twin-engine plane went up in flames after crashing into a wall shortly after take-off from the capital’s Indira Gandhi International airport. “It’s a matter of grave concern that the plane crashed soon after take-off. I am extremely sad to say that all 10 people including the pilot have died,” Mahesh Sharma, the junior minister civil aviation said. The plane was on its way to Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand and was carrying technicians belonging to India’s Border Security Force. The technicians were to repair a helicopter in Ranchi. The crash happened at around 9.50 a.m. moments after the pilot lost contact with ground control, A. K. Sharma, director of Delhi Fire Services, told AFP. Television footage showed security personnel clearing the area of bystanders as fire engines waited on the side.