Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Part (NCP) chief, was killed on Wednesday after the aircraft he was travelling in went down in Baramati. The crash also claimed the lives of four others on board, including the pilots and members of Pawar’s security team.
The aircraft departed Mumbai at about 8am and met with the accident while trying to land near Baramati airport roughly 45 minutes later. Pawar was scheduled to address four major public gatherings later in the day as part of campaigning ahead of the local government elections, reports NDTV.
Footage from the crash site shows thick smoke and flames rising from the wreckage, with the aircraft badly damaged and emergency services rushing the injured to nearby medical facilities.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that all five people travelling in the plane died in the incident.
