Five dead as plane plunges into Mumbai building site

Indian rescue workers and firemen gather around the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into a construction site , killing five people, in Mumbai on June 28 , 2018 . A small plane crashed into a construction site in a densely populated area of India ’ s financial capital Mumbai on June 28 , killing five people, officials said.
A small plane crashed into a construction site in a densely populated part of India ’ s financial capital Mumbai on Thursday , killing five people including one on the ground , officials said .
Images broadcast on Indian news channels showed flames and black smoke billowing from the area , which sits right next to several high - rise residential towers .
There were four people on the 12 -seater aircraft when it crashed , disaster management officials said , with witnesses reporting hearing a “ loud explosion ” as it smashed into a half - built structure .
“ There was a huge explosion and the adjacent tree caught fire and the fire spilled on the streets , ” a man was quoted as saying on the NDTV news channel .
“ Initially we assumed an electric box in the under construction building must have caught fire but when we checked out the spot , we found the charred body of a man who apparently was on bike when the plane crashed , ” he added .
A woman, who was also not named , reported hearing three loud explosions and described seeing a “ major fire ” .
Video footage posted online showed bright orange flames licking the side of a building next to a construction site .
Other images shot after the fire was put out showed firemen sifting through the twisted wreckage of the twin - prop plane as crowds looked on .
The white tailfin seemed to be the only recognisable part of the aircraft that was not consumed in the inferno .
India’ s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) said the plane was a turbo - prop King Air C- 90 and had been on a test flight from the nearby Juhu airstrip .
“ There were two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board . All onboard (the ) aircraft along with one person on ground are dead , ” the DGCA statement read .
It was not raining at the time of the accident and weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash .
DGCA said it was sending a team to investigate the cause , adding that the aircraft was owned by a private operator who had purchased it from the Uttar Pradesh state government .
P Rahangdale , Mumbai ’ s chief fire officer, said several fire engines had rushed to the spot .
“ Our teams have extinguished the fire and are conducting rescue operations , ” he told AFP .
India’ s National Disaster Response Force said it was also sending a team to make sure no there were no injured trapped under any rubble that may have been cause by the crash

Ruth Igiebor