Minutes before the plane carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar crashed, killing him and four others, it was flying towards the runway and fell 100 feet before approaching it, an eyewitness said.

"When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash and it did. It then exploded and burst into a massive fire," the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness added that locals rushed to the spot on seeing the plane crashing and erupting into flames. "People came and tried to pull out passengers from the aircraft. Due to the huge fire, they could not help," he said.

Pawar also said Pawar's death is really painful and has left him in shock.

As news of Pawar's death in the Learjet 45 crash spread, a wave of mourning followed as his political colleagues, party workers and well-wishers were seen breaking into tears.

Source: NDTV