Police said at least 68 people died Sunday when a plane with 72 passengers on board crashed in Nepal, the deadliest aviation disaster in the Himalayan country in three decades.
“Thirty-one (bodies) were taken to hospitals,” police officer A.K. which the plane crashed.
This was partly confirmed by the army, with a spokesman saying that 29 bodies had been recovered and that 33 more were at the site in Pokhara in central Nepal.
“The plane crashed into the gorge, so it is difficult to deliver the bodies. Search and rescue continues. No survivors have been found yet,” army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari told AFP.
One local official said some of the survivors were taken to the hospital – but this has not been confirmed by Yeti Airlines or others.
Yeti spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP that among those on board – 68 passengers and four crew members – were 15 foreigners, including five Indians, four Russians and two Koreans. The rest were Nepalese.
A plane from Kathmandu crashed into a ravine and shattered to pieces between Pokhara domestic airport and the new international airport on Sunday just before 11 am (5:15 am GMT).
After the crash, rescuers hosed down parts of the wreckage of an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft as smoke billowed from the ravine as hundreds watched.
The area was littered with what looked like aircraft parts, including seats.
Footage posted to social media, which appears to have been taken immediately after the crash, shows raging flames on the ground and plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky from debris strewn across the crash site.
AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage.
Another unconfirmed video posted online shows the plane flying at low altitude over a residential area, swerving to the left, followed by a loud explosion.
Pokhara International Airport, which opened on January 1, is to gradually replace the old one, established in 1958. The city is a gateway for religious pilgrims and international tourists.
bad record
In recent years, Nepal’s aviation industry has flourished, transporting goods and people between hard-to-reach areas, as well as foreign tourists and mountaineers.
But it suffers from poor security due to insufficient training and maintenance.
The European Union has banned all Nepalese air carriers from flying in its airspace due to security concerns.
This Himalayan country also has some of the most remote and challenging airstrips in the world, surrounded by snow-capped peaks that are a challenge even for experienced pilots.
Aircraft operators said Nepal lacks the infrastructure for accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with difficult mountainous terrain where fatal accidents have occurred in the past.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
In May 2022, all 22 people aboard a Nepalese Tara Air plane — 16 Nepalese, four Indians and two Germans — died in a crash.
Air traffic control lost contact with the twin-rotor Twin Otter shortly after it left Pokhara for Jomsom, a popular hiking destination.
Its wreckage was found a day later, strewn across the mountainside at about 4,400 meters (14,500 ft) above sea level.
In the aftermath of the crash, authorities tightened regulations, including allowing planes to fly only if the weather forecast was favorable for the entire route.
In March 2018, a USA-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near the infamous Kathmandu International Airport, killing 51 people.
The crash was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.
Just two months earlier, a Thai Airways plane crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
