Plane collision kills 12 in India

A total of 12 air crewmen were killed today when two Indian navy planes collided over Goa.

One plane fell onto a building being built in a residential area of the western resort, and the other crashed into a field.

“We are trying to rescue a person who was inside the building the plane fell on,” said Pradeep Shrivastav, a senior police officer in the area.

The two reconnaissance planes were practising formation flying for anniversary celebrations of their squadron.

An official said the planes in the collision were not connected with US-India naval warfare exercises, taking place in the Indian Ocean.

The air force said they believed all 12 crew members were killed. The planes carried six crew each.

Karnal Singh, general inspector of police for Goa state, said nine people were carried out of the house under construction and that two were in a very serious condition.

Shrivastav said three bodies had been recovered from the debris of the aircraft.

“It was a collision between IL-38 planes flying parallel to each other. Their wings collided,” Singh said. “One crashed on a house under construction and one crashed near the road” in a residential area called Vasco.