4 more bodies recovered 56 years after IAF plane crashed in Himachal

More than 56 years after an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crashed in Himachal Pradesh’s Rohtang Pass with 102 passengers on board, an Indian Army expedition recently recovered four more bodies from the accident site, marking a significant development in India’s longest-running search and recovery operations, the army said.

The four-engine turboprop AN-12 military aircraft which took off from Chandigarh on Feb 7, 1968, crashed near the Rohtang Pass after encountering severe weather. The wreckage and remains of the victims were lost in the snow-clad terrain.

The mountaineers from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering first discovered the wreckage in 2003, leading to multiple expeditions by the Army, particularly the Dogra Scouts, who remained at the forefront of the search missions in 2005, 2006, 2013, and 2019.

Despite a decade-long extensive search and recovery operations in the unforgiving terrain, only five bodies were recovered from the accident site till 2019.

After a long wait and relentless efforts, the Indian Army’s Chandra Bhaga Mountain Expedition recovered four more bodies, taking the total number of recoveries to nine.

According to the Army, only three bodies have been identified out of the four recoveries. While Narayan Singh’s body was identified by his paybook found on his body, Malkhan Singh’s body was identified by a voucher found in his pocket.

Similarly, Craftsman Thomas Charan was also identified with further confirmation through his paybook, the army said in a statement.

While the fourth victim is yet to be identified, details of the deceased’s family have been found and the information shared with the family, the army said, adding, “The search expedition is scheduled to continue till Oct 10.”