IAF starts rescue ops to look for AN-32 survivors

Guwahati: After having located the crash site, a team comprising personnel from the Indian Air Force, Army and civil mountaineers has been airlifted to a location close to the crash site.

Informing that a joint team comprising of 15 members has been airlifted to a location close to the crash site, the defence spokesperson said that some members of the search team, comprising nine from IAF mountaineering team, four from Army and two civilian mountaineers, have reached the crash site while some of them are still tracking.

More people are expected to join the first team once a base camp is established close to the crash site. Mi17s and Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) of the Indian Army have been pressed into action for the rescue operations.

Informing that the Cheetah helicopter and an ALH chopper which were conducting the searches on Tuesday could not land at the crash site due to high elevation and dense forest, security sources engaged in the operation said that they have identified a location nearby the crash site where the first team will set up a base camp to carry on the search and rescue operations.

The AN-32 aircraft with 13 passengers onboard had gone missing on June 3 soon after taking off from the Jorhat air base. The aircraft was heading for an advance landing airstrip Mechuka.

Eight days after it went missing in the dense forests of Arunachal, the IAF managed to spot the wreckage of the aircraft which was seen lying amid charred trees on a hill slope.

The IAF is likely to airdrop its Garud commandos along with local teams carrying out combing operations in the thickly forested areas.

Sources said that though the ground search team has taken all necessary precautions, clouds and rain may halt the operation any moment.