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Search continues for mortal remains of victims

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 14 - The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of the IAF�s AN 32 transport aircraft, which crashed in West Siang district, has been recovered by the rescue team at the crash site today.

The process of recovering the mortal remains of all air warriors is still on at the crash site by rescue team even as inclement weather conditions continued to affect the pace of recovery, defence spokesman Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said.

Yesterday, three more civilian mountaineers were inducted into the rescue mission.

The IAF mountaineers, Army Special Forces personnel and local mountaineers, who were air-dropped at the closest possible location to the crash site, have reached the spot.

�The mortal remains and other material evidences have to be picked up by helicopters and brought back to Jorhat in stages. The recovery team is braving treacherous terrain and inclement weather to bring back the mortal remains as soon as possible,� defence sources said.

The IAF has flown around 200 sorties in the search and recovery operations since June 3.

PTI adds: The Russian-origin AN 32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka Advanced Landing Ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact about half-an-hour after taking off.

Siang Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Takuk said the district administration has extended all possible help to the IAF to retrieve the bodies from the crash site.

The weather and the hostile terrain have posed great challenges to the rescue team, the DC said, adding the crash site is located in a steep gorge which is inaccessible.

The wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper on Tuesday at a height of 12,000 feet near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight days of a massive search operation.

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