The flight CD 7412 of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of the Indian Airlines, was carrying 52 passengers and six-crew on its way to Delhi from Calcutta via Patna and Lucknow.

Official sources said 54 people on board the plane and seven people on the ground were killed. They, however, said the death toll might go up.

The sources said the aircraft caught fire and exploded twice in the air before it hit the government quarters. At least two quarters and some shanties around were destroyed under the impact of the crash. Some trees in the area also caught fire.

Chief secretary V S Dubey, who stays in the VVIP area adjacent to the site of the crash, told UNI that he saw the plane nosediving around 7.25 am.

''The plane appeared to have lost control before it crashed on the road number 29 area of the Gardanibagh locality,'' he said.

Dubey said of the 52 passengers, 46 were bound for Patna and six for Lucknow. Three children and five women were among the passengers. He said twelve injured had been admitted to the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

District magistrate Amit Kahre said 15 bodies had so far been recovered.

Though equipped with cranes and fire tenders personnel of the army and civil authorities were still having a tough time extricating the bodies from the debris as a huge crowd had gathered at the accident site, hampering the rescue operation. The crowd was continuously swelling there.

Officials confirmed that the black box, holding vital clues of the crash, was yet to be recovered.

According to eyewitnesses, the plane which was over the railway crossing gate No 15 at around 7.30 am, suddenly nose-dived towards the quarters after it caught fire, just about two km short of the runway at Patna airport.

The aircraft had first hit a peepal tree and then plunged into a mango grove damaging its wings and the upper portion of a single-storey house before finally hitting two adjoining buildings. The eyewitnesses also heard a huge explosion and saw smoke coming out of the aircraft.

Umakant Tiwari, a local resident, informed the police about the crash. He said the plane crashed near his house.

Local people alleged that the airport authorities were late in reaching the spot but the police were prompt and began the preliminary rescue operation within 15 minutes of the crash.

UNI

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