English
Morena: Recounting the tragic incident of two fighter air planes crash in Morena, eye witnesses described the moment of collision as ‘balls of fire descending from sky, deafening sounds.’ On Saturday, two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets collided mid air killing one pilot while two were grievously injured. A Sukhoi 30MKI and a Mirage-2000 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed during a routine training mission in the morning, with the two pilots of the Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft managing to eject safely, and the pilot of the Mirage-2000 sustaining fatal injuries.
The debris of the two aircraft fell in Pahargarh area here, 75 kilometres from the district headquarters, while some parts also fell in Bharatpur, just across the border in neighbouring Rajasthan.
People immediately assembled near the crash site and helped the two pilots from the thicket and laid them down on the ground till an IAF chopper arrived and flew them for treatment to Gwalior, from where the two aircraft had taken off on the routine training mission.
“I was standing with some people here when we heard a massive noise from above, like a powerful bomb blast. We looked up to see balls of fire descending, some of which landed in a forested path here and some in Bharatpur on the other side,” Pahargarh sarpanch Shailendra Shakya told media outlets at the site.
According to PTI report, the bystanders recounted that they heard a deafening sound and sighting balls of fire descending to the ground followed by two persons in uniform parachuting into the thicket nearby.
“We saw two parachutes coming down and we waited for 15-20 minutes for the duo to land. However, they fell into the thicket and sustained injuries. We took them out from the bushes and laid them on the ground. While we were talking to the two pilots in uniform, an IAF helicopter arrived and flew them to Gwalior,” Shakya informed.
While debris from the two fighter jets was on fire, people in the vicinity tried to extinguish the flames engulfing the two aircraft by throwing mud, these eyewitnesses said, adding the area was soon swarming with more than 1,500 residents of 15 villages nearby.
Sarpanch Shakya called the police and fire brigade after the incident, he claimed.
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