Nepal plane crash: Unlikely there are survivors, police say
16-01-2023, 08:45

Font size: [ A+ ] / [ A- ]

Hopes of finding survivors from Nepal's worst air disaster in decades are fading, police say.

"It's unlikely there will be any survivors," spokesperson Tek Prasad Rai told the BBC. Teams were finding body parts at the scene, he added.

At least 68 people died when a flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara crashed and caught fire on Sunday morning.

It is still unclear what caused the crash.

Mobile phone footage showed the Yeti Airlines flight rolling sharply as it approached the airport. There were 72 passengers and crew on board the domestic flight.

A search and rescue operation that involved hundreds of Nepalese soldiers was suspended due to darkness on Sunday. It resumed on Monday morning, with 300 police personnel deployed.

Earlier, local TV reports showed rescuers scrambling around charred sections of the aircraft which hit the ground in the gorge of the Seti River, just over a kilometre from the airport.

The prime minister of Nepal declared Monday a national day of mourning, and the government set up a panel to investigate the cause of the disaster.

Local resident Divya Dhakal told the BBC how she rushed to the crash site after seeing the aircraft plunge from the sky shortly after 11:00am local time (05:15 GMT).

"By the time I was there the crash site was already crowded. There was huge smoke coming from the flames of the plane. And then helicopters came over in no time," she said.

"The pilot tried his best to not hit civilisation or any home," she added. "There was a small space right beside the Seti River and the flight hit the ground in that small space."

Aviation accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, often due to its remote runways and sudden weather changes that can make for hazardous conditions.

This Himalayan nation, home to some of the most breath-taking mountains in the world, has some of the most difficult terrain to navigate.

A lack of investment in new aircraft and poor regulation have also been blamed in the past.

The European Union has banned Nepalese airlines from its airspace over concerns about training and maintenance standards.

In May 2022 a Tara Air plane crashed in northern Nepal, killing 22 people. Four years earlier 51 people were killed when a flight travelling from Bangladesh caught fire as it landed in Kathmandu.

Chiranjibi Paudel, whose journalist brother Tribhuvan was on the flight, said action had to be taken to improve aviation safety in Nepal.

"The airlines should be penalised and the regulatory body of the government also should be held accountable," he said.

The plane came down close to the newly built Pokhara International Airport, which only opened at the start of the year.

Travellers at the airport told the BBC they fly regularly and still feel safe after today's news - short plane journeys are a popular way for Nepal's middle classes to travel across the country.

"I'm not scared of flying," said Ria who was waiting for her bags to arrive, "but there needs to be better regulations and newer aircraft."

The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara left the Nepalese capital just after 10:30 (04:45 GMT) for what should have been a short trip.

It had 68 passengers on board, including at least 15 foreign nationals, and four crew members.

Of the passengers, 53 were said to be Nepalese. There were five Indian, four Russians and two Koreans on the plane. There was also one passenger each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France among others.

Khum Bahadur Chhetri, a local resident, told Reuters that he was observing the flight from the roof of his home as it approached the airport.

"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly it nosedived and it went into the gorge," added.

 

BBC

 

Comments: 1238
#158   Rebecca
      
8 August 2025 13:06
#157   Jonna
      
Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it's really informative.
I?m going to watch out for brussels. I will
be grateful if you continue this in future. Lots of people
will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

Feel free to surf to my site - Remote control
zero turn mower (Marcus)
8 August 2025 12:44
#156   Marina
      
high roller rooms

References:


slots, alushta-Shirak.ru,
8 August 2025 11:42
#155   Joseph
      
Excellent article. I am experiencing a few of these
issues as well..

My web site - สล็อตเว็บตรง
8 August 2025 05:16
#154   Ermelinda
      
my homepage; PokerTube
7 August 2025 20:45
#153   Cynthia
      
my blog - Mandy

Take a look at my homepage; high stakes sweeps
7 August 2025 19:06
#152   Juliane
      
I think that is among the so much significant information for me.
And i am happy reading your article. But should observation on few normal issues, The site style is wonderful, the articles is in reality excellent : D.
Just right task, cheers

Feel free to surf to my web site ... Live Poker Online (www.kepenktrsfcdhf.hfhjf.hdasgsdfhdshshfsh@forum.annecy-outdoor.com)
7 August 2025 08:18
#151   Mickey
      
Драгон Мани драгон мани зеркало
– всегда рабочее, проверено лично.
7 August 2025 05:55
#150   Iona
      
Hi there! Ι just wаnted to аsk if you ever have any issues with һackers?
My last blog (wordpress)waѕ hacкed annd I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no back up.
Do you have any methuods to stop hackers?

my sitе; opcmd (Myles)
7 August 2025 04:13
#149   Maria
      
Wow! At last I got a blog from where I can genuinely obtain useful facts concerning my study and knowledge.


References:


what are anabolic steroids made of; https://md.chaosdorf.de/,
6 August 2025 14:54
#148   Corina
      
6 August 2025 13:00
#147   Rosaria
      
Every weekend i used to go to see this website, because i want enjoyment, since this this web site conations genuinely good funny information too.


Here is my website: Web
Platform - Sosyal İçerik Platformu
6 August 2025 09:53
#146   Ngan
      
Here is my homepage: high Stake poker
6 August 2025 03:23
#145   Rose
      
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he's tryiong
none the less. I've been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform.
I have heard very good things about blogengine.net.
Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Also visit my page ... go to my blog
6 August 2025 01:40
#144   Hung
      
An impressive share! I have jyst forwarded this onto a coworker who had been doing a little research on this.
And he actually ordered me dinner because I stumbled upon it for
him... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thank YOU for the meal!!
But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this topic here on your site.


Here is my blog Best SEO Backlink Service
6 August 2025 00:50
#143   Kristina
      
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to
say that I've truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any
case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

Also visit my web-site :: m98 เข้าสู่ระบบ ล่าสุด
5 August 2025 13:23
#142   Milo
      
My web page :: Play poker
online
5 August 2025 04:13
#141   Rodrigo
      
Hi, i believe that i noticed you visited my blog thus i came
to return the desire?.I'm trying to find issues to improve my site!I guess its good
enough to make use of a few of your ideas!!

Here is my blog post top poker
sites
5 August 2025 02:44
#140   Ryder
      
Some genuinely nice and useful info on this website, likewise I think the style
has got wonderful features.

Check out my site ... Kkpoker Rakeback
5 August 2025 00:16
#139   Dylan
      
Here is my blog post :: High Stakes Poker App

Here is my website High stake poker
4 August 2025 20:50
Add Comments

Name:*
E-Mail:
  Geo Keyboard  
 

Dear reader, guardian.ge welcomes your comments. Please express your views on topic and be respectful of others.

bold italic underline strike | align left centered align right | Ensert smilies insert linkInsert protected URL Choice the color | hidden text insert quote Convert selected text from transliteration to Cyrillic alphabet Insert spoiler

Code: *


Back1 ... 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 ... 62Next