Air charter crash in India's Maharashtra kills key state leader

The deputy chief minister of India's wealthiest state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, was killed on Wednesday, along with four people on board his charter aircraft that went down in flames, the aviation regulator said.
Pawar, who hailed from a top political family, was en route to his home region to canvass in local body elections, media said.

Two of his staff and two crew were also aboard the aircraft, the directorate general of civil aviation said.

"No person on board has survived," it added in an initial statement.

The cause of the crash has not been officially confirmed yet. Preliminary investigations suggest a possible technical malfunction, coupled with poor visibility due to dense fog in the Pune and Baramati region․