4 people killed as plane plunges into lake

Bangalore, Sep 8 (UNI) Four people were killed when Italian-made small aircraft crashed into a lake after hitting a coconut tree near Goudarapalya on the outskirts of the city this afternoon.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Alok Kumar told UNI the incident occurred around 1520 hrs when the ill-fated aircraft belonging to Kerala-based jewellery company Alukkas was flying to Kochi from here.

The debris of the low-flying plane hit an appartment block after the crash. Though it fell near a residential area, fortunately no civilian was hurt as it crashed into the marshy lake bed.

A top ATC official said the P-68C four-seater aircraft, which took off from HAL Airport, lost contact with the ATC at 1515 hrs minutes after it took off and crashed.

The Turboprop plane caught fire soon after it crashed killing all the four people onboard instantaneously. The reason for the crash was not immediately known.

The deceased were identified as Santhosh Kumar, Mohammed Zamir, Sunil Joshi and Shanmugham.

UNI