At least 68 people lost their lives in Nepal’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years on Sunday. The Yeti Airlines 9N-ANC ATR-72 flight crashed into a river gorge while approaching for landing in Nepal’s resort town Pokhara.
Search and rescue operations are on while 68 bodies have been recovered, Search and Rescue Coordination Committee was quoted as saying. The dead bodies are yet to be identified, he added. There is no information about any survivor so far.
What may have caused the accident?
Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said that it is not clearly known until now what may have caused the accident.
He said that the engine of the aircraft was in good condition and there weren't any weather-related issues in Pokhara. “The weather in Pokhara was absolutely fine and the engine of the aircraft was also in good condition,” Bartaula said.
“We don't know what has happened to the airplane,” he added.
A five member committee has reportedly been formed to probe the cause of the air accident.
While there is no official statement on any suspected cause, local media has reported that the aircraft may have overshot a turn while coming into land which may have led to the accident.
What happened to the Yeti Airlines flight?
The plane took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am for the newly-opened airport in Pokhara in central Nepal, built on a Chinese soft loan. The aircraft crashed into a gorge on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport of Pokhara and the new airport, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said.
The aircraft was flying in 68 passengers along with 2 pilots and 2 crew members from Nepal capital Kathmandu. At least 15 passengers on the aircraft were foreign nationals, including 5 Indians. The other foreign nationals were four Russians, two Koreans, an Australian, a French, an Argentine and an Israeli. The five Indians were identified as Abhisekh Kushwaha, Bishal Sharma, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, Sonu Jaiswal and Sanjaya Jaiswal.
READ | Nepal plane crash: Horrifying last moments before plane loses control, hits ground in Pokhara, WATCH video
(With inputs from PTI)
