IAF locates AN-32 wreckage in Arunachal Pradesh after 8 days

New Delhi, June 11: The wreckage of the Indian Air Force's missing AN-32 transport aircraft has been found in Arunachal Pradesh, almost a week after it went missing.

The wreckage has been found in Payum Circle of Siang district. It was spotted by a Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force.

The IAF has confirmed that wreckage of the missing AN-32 was spotted north of Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh.

Indian Air Force: The wreckage of the missing AN-32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato, at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft, by the IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone pic.twitter.com/oYzPheEYIl

— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2019

"Efforts are now continuing to establish the status of occupants and establish survivors. Further details will be communicated as the recovery actions progress," it added.

The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft with 13 people on board lost contact on June 3 afternoon after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China.

IAF had launched a massive search operation hours after the aircraft went missing. The assets deployed for the operation included Sukhoi-30 aircraft in addition to a fleet of C-130J and AN-32 planes and Mi-17 and ALH helicopters. The ground forces included troops from the Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police and state police.