Life saving trip turns fatal

Faridabad: A chartered plane crashed in a residential area in Faridabad last night, killing ten persons, including all seven on board. It was meant to be a life saving flight to a Delhi hospital from Patna, but for an ailing Rahul Raj it turned out to be his last journey. The nine-seater aircraft carrying him, his cousin, two doctors and a male nurse, crashed into a two-storey building here last night, killing all the seven on board and three women staying in the house. [caption id=“attachment_15685” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The life-saving aircraft crashed into a building in Faridabad and killed 10 persons. PTI”][/caption] Rahul, who hails from Bettiah in Bihar, was in a Patna hospital as he was suffering from Hepatitis. His family decided to shift him to Delhi as he fell into comma. A student, Rahul was airlifted to Apollo hospital last night for treatment, but it turned fatal for him. Rahul was accompanied by his cousin Ratnesh, two doctors from Apollo, Rajesh Jain and Arshad, and a male nurse Shiril. They along with pilot Manjeet and Harpreet perished in the tragedy. The aircraft lost control and nosedived crashing into the first floor of a building, killing three women residents. The building in no time turned into a ball of fire. A battery of people surrounded the accident site, which caused difficulty in rescue operations. “I rushed to the building, it was on fire. There were some people on the stairs who were engulfed in flames. I tried to find my way to the first floor but the flames were too strong,” Omkar (30), one of the injured, said. The Patna-Delhi route
View Larger Map Three persons were injured in the mishap. Apart from the wreckage of the ambulance aircraft, oxygen cylinders, icebox, and other medical articles were seen lying around the scene. The whole area has been cordoned off and security personnel deployed. The incident was a nightmare of sorts for the residents of the densely populated Parvatiya Colony as they came out of their houses after hearing the massive explosion. “It was very scary. I heard a loud explosion and rushed outside. I saw flames all over. I immediately called my friends and nearby people to douse the fire,” said Rohan, a resident of the colony. The bodies of all the 10 victims were badly burnt in the incident. Police said fire tenders and rescue teams had difficulty in reaching the spot as crowd had assembled at the spot. Rescue operations were being carried out for two hours. “We faced a lot of difficulty in rescuing people as there was a power cut in the area,” said Sitaram, an eyewitness. Lata Devi, another eyewitness said, “We were about to sleep when we heard a huge sound. It was a huge explosion. For a minute I could not understand what has happened, but later realised that something big has fallen on the house.” Meanwhile, Principal Medical Officer of B K Hospital, O P Mehta said the condition of all the injured is stable. The deceased women have been identified as Sharla, Rani and Sarita while those injured are Harvinder (30), Satish (18) and Omkar (30). PTI