Itanagar, June 13 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday offered his condolences to the bereaved family members of the 13 people on board the AN-32 aircraft which crashed in the state on June 3.
In his condolence message, Khandu said, "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives of our brave Air warriors who attained martyrdom in the line of their duties."
"While I express my solidarity to the Indian Air Force for loss of their men and officers, I call them true patriot as they laid their lives for the cause of our motherland....
In this hour of grief, I express my heartfelt and sincere condolences to the bereaved family members," he said.
After a team of rescuers searched the wreckage of the plane in a heavily forested mountainous terrain earlier on Thursday, the Indian Air Force said there were no survivors from the crash of the aircraft.
The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact around half- an-hour after taking off.
The wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper on Tuesday at a height of 12,000 ft near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight days of a massive search operation involving a fleet of aircraft and choppers as well as ground forces.
