Charred houses and the mangled remains of the nine seats of the ill-fated Swiss- made Pilatus chartered air-ambulance aircraft could be seen at the accident site at Parvartiya Colony in Faridabad on Thursday.
The nine-seater air ambulance went down at about 10.50 pm Wednesday, killing all seven people on board. The aircraft crashed on a double-storey house, killing three women residents as well. All the 10 bodies were charred beyond recognition.
The accident site was cordoned off, rescue teams were pressed into action and a huge contingent of police were keeping people at bay. The building into which the aircraft crashed was also charred.
The flight was carrying a critically-ill patient named Rahul Raj, two doctors, two attendants, and the two pilots. On Thursday morning, along with the wreckage of the ambulance aircraft, oxygen cylinders, an icebox and medical kits were still lying on the ground.
Satpal Singh, a resident of a flat in the building into which the aircraft crashed had a miraculous escape. He was sleeping on the ground floor as the aircraft nose-dived onto the roof of the building, killing three women asleep on the first floor. Satpal, who was released after first aid, said: “The sound of a huge explosion woke me up. It was like a ball of fire. I couldn’t move for a few seconds...” Still traumatised, Satpal stammered: “Then I managed to run out and saw the building burning. I thought someone had dropped a bomb.” As the plane crashed, it hit the electric poles and the area plunged into darkness. The adjacent building had also caught fire as a portion of the aircraft fell on it. No one from the other building was injured. The plane caught fire as soon it crashed on the roof of the two houses.
Panic and confusion spread across the colony when the aircraft crashed. “We had no idea what was happening,” Mohit Tomar, a colony resident, said. It took 35 fire tenders over four hours to douse the flames.
It was then that the police and the local residents began the rescue operation. Bodies were found charred and mutilated.