The deputy chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra was among those killed in a private plane crash on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The plane, carrying Ajit Pawar and others, crashed in Maharashtra's city of Baramati, said public broadcaster All India Radio.
Besides Pawar, four people were onboard including two crew members, and according to initial information, there were no survivors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pawar’s “untimely demise is very shocking and saddening.”
“He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra … condolences to his family and countless admirers,” Modi said on X.
He said his “thoughts are with all those who lost their loved ones in the crash.”
Video showed billows of smoke rising from some of the burning wreckage of the plane, scattered across an open field.
Media said Pawar's aircraft, travelling from India's financial capital of Mumbai, tried to make an emergency landing in the state's city of Baramati.
