Patna: Chandra Sekhar Prasad was sipping his morning tea when the walls of his house shook under a tremendous explosion and he ran out to find a huge plane engulfed in flames.

It was the Alliance Air Boeing 737 that had crashed into the government housing colony.

The burning plane had ploughed into the house of Kamlesh Sharma, just 50 feet away from Prasad's home. Sharma's daughter was killed while he and his wife were seriously injured. They have been admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital.

Another government employee, Amarendra Kumar Mishra, lost his younger son and his other family members were injured.

“This has been a big shock. We are still in trauma,” said Prasad. Both Sharma and Mishra are his family friends.

Prasad said a fire tender of the Indian Airlines was the first to reach the spot 15 minutes after the explosion. However, soon it ran out of water. Five tenders of the state fire service arrived after 50 minutes, he added.

A correspondent visiting the spot found rescue operations in full swing. A large number of onlookers had gathered and the authorities were making appeals over the public address system asking them to disperse and not hamper the relief work.

UNI

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