Ajit Pawar's Funeral on Thursday; Modi, Shah Likely to Attend
According to the DGCA, five people, including the crew, on board the chartered plane flying from Mumbai to Baramati died after a crash-landing at 8.45 am
Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning, officials said. The incident occurred when the plane carrying Pawar (66) and others landed near Baramati.
The last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati, Pune district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 AM.
Pawar was traveling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state. According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from radar around 8.45 am.
The government on Wednesday declared three days of state mourning across Maharashtra as a mark of respect to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, officials said.
State mourning will be observed from January 28 to January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings. There will be no official entertainment during the mourning period, it said.
The department further declared that all state government offices across Maharashtra will remain closed on Wednesday on account of the demise of the deputy chief minister.
A source told PTI that the aircraft pilot had mentioned about poor visibility near the runway, before the aircraft attempted the landing.
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