BSF plane crash: ‘There were people burning inside…but we couldn’t help them’

“We were stationed at Marble Market in Sector 20 when we received instructions from the police control room at 9.39 am to go to the site. It was reported that there was a fire near Shahbad-Mohammadpur village near Palam Airport. It took us five minutes to reach the spot,” said Jaswant.

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“When we reached the spot, a few residents were already there. When we realised that a plane had crashed there, we relayed the message through the wireless set. By then, a fire engine bus of the GMR Group, along with some officials of the CISF had arrived at the spot,” said Jaswant.

Within a few minutes, two fire tenders reached the spot. “The flames were too high and it was not easy for us to go close to the remains of the plane. There were people burning inside… but we were helpless… we couldn’t do anything …Finally, after the blaze was brought under control, we could go near the crash site. A few bodies were floating inside the water tank of the sewage treatment plant,” said Jaswant.

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It took two hours to bring the fire under control. By the time the bodies could be removed, they were completely charred. “All bodies were taken out after the cooling operation. Some BSF officials were also at the spot… all the bodies were taken to a hospital,” said Kumar.

Varalaxmi Foundation, an institution that organises skill development classes for students, is located barely 200 meters from the crash site.

A security guard said that he had seen the plane take an U-turn. “I saw the plane changing direction… Before we could understand what was happening, we heard a loud noise. We came out of the building and found the crash site, which was a little too close to our complex. Bhagwan ka shukr hai ki woh hamare upar nahi gira (Thank god, the plane didn’t crash here),” said the guard.