April 8, 2003	Tuesday	Safar 5, 1424

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CHANDIGARH, April 7: An Indian Air Force Mig-21 fighter jet crashed into a milk processing plant in Haryana on Monday, injuring at least three people, air force officials said.

It was the second crash involving the Russian-designed plane since Friday when a Mig-23 air force plane hit houses in a village in East Punjab, killing five people and injuring two dozen.

“A Mig-21 crashed soon after takeoff today (Monday),” Squadron Leader Rajesh Dhingra told Reuters in New Delhi.

The pilot of the plane ejected safely, said an air force official at the air base from where the plane took off. “One woman and two children were injured,” he said.

India’s air force has of late come under criticism for a dismal safety record. Defence officials say at least 170 Russian-made Mig combat planes, the backbone of the air force, have been lost in accidents over the past decade.—Reuters