An
Indian military plane with more than 20 people on board has gone
missing over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Air Force (AIF) has confirmed
to the BBC.
The Antonov-32 transporter aircraft took off from
Chennai (Madras) in southern India at 8.30 am (local time) for Port
Blair in the eastern archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.
It was scheduled to land at 11.30am. A search operation has been launched. The IAF operates more than 100 Antonov-32 aircraft.
A
navy spokesman told the Reuters news agency that surveillance planes
and ships were looking for the missing aircraft, which was carrying
service personnel to strategic islands near the Malacca Straits, where
India has a military base.
More story still to come...
