Nepalese media reported that at least 16 bodies had been found.
New Delhi:
A plane carrying about 72 people from Kathmandu crashed in Pokhara, Nepal this morning, Yeti Airlines said. Nepalese media reported that at least 16 bodies had been recovered from the rubble. There were 68 passengers and four crew members on board the plane that crashed between the old and new airport in the city, located in western Nepal. The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines was en route from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, an official told Reuters news agency.
Nepal’s state television said 10 foreigners were among the passengers.
Nepalese journalist Dilip Thapa told NDTV that the rescue operation was difficult due to the intense fire at the wreckage. Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ convened an emergency cabinet meeting.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the plane took off from Kathmandu at 10:33 am.
The plane was about to land at Pokhara airport when it crashed on the banks of the Seti River. The crash occurred about 20 minutes after take-off, suggesting the plane may have been descending. Flight time between the two cities is 25 minutes.
“Right now we don’t know if there are any survivors,” airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP news agency.
A local official said the plane caught fire as it went down and that rescuers were trying to put out the flames.
Nepal’s airline business is struggling with safety concerns and inadequate staff training. Since 2013, the European Union has put Nepal on a safety blacklist, banning all flights from the Himalayan country into its airspace, after the Civil Aviation Organization International (ICAO) warns of safety concerns.
Hundreds of people had previously been killed in a horrific plane crash in Nepal, AFP news agency reported.
In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepal’s Tara Air — 16 Nepalese, four Indians and two Germans — were killed when it crashed.
In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane landed near Kathmandu’s international airport, killing 51 people.
That crash was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed while approaching Kathmandu.
Just two months earlier, a Thai Airways plane crashed near the airport, killing 113 people.
