The Russian-built Antonov AN-32, came down on a building site near Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Satish Jacob reports: "The debris has become a massive attraction to on-lookers"

According to the police, there were 20 people on board; they all died, and three civilians were burnt to death on the ground.

It is the second plane crash in India in two days. On Saturday an Air France Boeing 747-200 cargo plane exploded in flames on landing at Madras. Remarkably the five-man crew escaped.

Reports suggest the three civilians killed in the Delhi crash were a 60 year-old woman and two of her grandchildren.

Debris was strewn over a wide area

The police say seven other civilians, most of them construction workers, have been admitted to hospital.

They were injured when their huts were engulfed by the flames of the burning aircraft.

Airport officials say the plane suddenly lost touch with ground control and disappeared from the radar screens.

A police officer said only the tail of the aircraft was left intact after it crashed into a giant water storage tank.

A labourer at the site said the plane came in low and hit a drain, then a boundary wall and finally crashed into the building site after severing power lines.

"There was a fire and the plane exploded ... I saw some people running out of their huts on fire," he said.

Grief and shock

The Press Trust of India said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee expressed deep grief and shock.

Airport officials say it is far too soon to be able to say what caused the crash and an investigation has been launched.

The plane had flown from the central city of Gwalior and was stopping in Delhi only to pick up a senior Air Force official, before flying to India's nuclear site, Bokran, where an Air Force exercise was taking place.

Indian Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandez, who watched the exercise, also expressed grief over the loss of life.

Mr Fernandez said the accident had underscored the need for modern and better equipment to avoid such accidents.

Jumbo escape

On Saturday in Madras, a five member crew onboard the Air France cargo jet had a miraculous escape.

The men managed to get out from the aircraft minutes before it exploded in a huge fireball.

Only the nose and the tail of the French aircraft are relatively intact, the rest has been totally burnt out.