PLANE CARRYING 72 PEOPLE CRASHES IN NEPAL; AT LEAST 67 DEAD

Sun 15 January 2023:

At least 67 people were killed when a plane carrying 72 people crashed in Nepal on Sunday, the Himalayan country’s deadliest aviation disaster in three decades.

72 passengers were on board the flight, according to Yeti Airlines, which operated it. There were 68 passengers and 4 crew members. The foreign nationals on board were one Australian, one French, one Argentinian, four Russians, five Indians, two South Koreans, and one passenger from Ireland, according to an airport official.

“Thirty-one (bodies) have been taken to hospitals,” police official AK Chhetri told media, adding that 36 other bodies were still in the 300-metre gorge the aircraft plunged into.

This was partially confirmed by the army, with a spokesman saying 29 bodies had been retrieved and that there were 33 more at the site in Pokhara in central Nepal.

“The aircraft crashed into a gorge so it is difficult to bring the bodies Search and rescue is ongoing. No survivors have been found yet,” army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari said.

Footage shared on social media, which appeared to be shot just after the crash, showed the plane enveloped in raging flames on the ground as black smoke billowed into the sky from debris strewn across the crash site.

Another clip shared online showed a plane flying at a low altitude over a residential area banking sharply to the left, followed by a loud explosion.

The wreckage was on fire and rescue workers were trying to put out the blaze, local official Gurudutta Dhakal said.

Nepal’s prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency meeting following the crash. The Nepal government has also formed a five-member commission of inquiry to probe the cause of the incident.

Aircraft operators claim that Nepal lacks the infrastructure necessary to provide reliable weather forecasts, particularly in the isolated Himalayan regions where fatal incidents have previously occurred. In the mountains, the weather can sometimes change suddenly, making it dangerous to fly. But it has also been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance.

In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air died when it crashed and in March 2018, 51 people died when a US-Bangla Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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