May 19, 2002	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1423

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SUKKUR, May 18: An unmanned US spy plane crashed near the Jacobabad airbase early morning on Saturday. No damage to life or property was reported.

Reports said that the drone was 20 kilometres away from the Shahbaz Airbase when all of a sudden it blew up in the air near Behram Khan Khoso village. Its pieces were scattered all over in the area. The US personnel at the Jacobabad airbase, upon being informed of the incident, rushed to the scene. The area had been cordoned off by the police and other agencies for carrying out search operation.

The venue being a barren area and without habitation, no loss of life or property was done.

An initial inquiry suggested that some technical fault was the cause of accident.

Journalists and residents of the nearby villages were not allowed into the crash site.

Meanwhile, the Shahbaz Airbase personnel have suspended the daytime air exercises in view of the extremely hot weather. In another incident, a PAF man, Tauqeer Hasan, was injured as he fell from the escalator of an aeroplane at the base on Saturday. He was admitted to the Jacobabad Civil Hospital where a doctor said his right arm had fractured.