An aircraft maintenance engineer attached with budget carrier IndiGO has died of COVID-19 in Chennai.
The employee of the airlines reportedly passed away in a hospital in Chennai on Friday.
The engineer was in his mid-50s and had been working with the carrier since 2006. He was posted in Chennai, the source said.
“We are extremely sorry and saddened by the demise of one of our beloved employees in Chennai due to infection of Covid 19 virus,” an airline spokesperson told a news agency.
This is possibly the first case of death of aviation personnel due to coronavirus infection in the country.
“This is a heartbreaking moment for all of us at IndiGo and in this time of sorrow we stand with his family and request that we respect the privacy of our employee and his family,” the spokesperson said.
The number of infections in the country has crossed 8,000 and more than 260 people have died of the deadly virus so far.