M A I N   N E W S

Five feared dead in aircrash
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 29 — All five passengers, including two crew members, were killed when a private chartered plane on its way from Delhi to Kulu crashed into the Gargi Nullah near Kathabai village in Mandi district this afternoon.

The plane, which lost its way due to heavy fog, was about 35 km short of the Bhuntar airport when the mishap occurred. The Dornier aircraft owned by Super King Airways was hired by a private party to airlift some ailing foreigner from the Kulu valley. Besides the pilot and the co-pilot, a doctor and his two assistants were on board.

The plane, which took off from Delhi at 12.20 p.m., lost contact from the destination Bhuntar airport at 1.25 p.m. The airport authorities informed the police about the missing aircraft after 1.40 p.m., the scheduled time for its landing. Wireless messages were flashed all over the state to trace the plane.

The first information regarding the ill-fated plane came at 4.30 p.m. from a shopkeeper of Pandar village who informed the police that he had seen an aircraft flying low near Phanchidhar. It took another half an hour for the police to confirm the crash from a resident of Jhungi village who saw the plane crash into the hills.