All 72 passengers and crew members, including five Indians, on board a Yeti Airlines flight died in the tragic crash moments before its scheduled landing in the Nepalese resort town of Pokhara on Sunday.
“We haven’t rescued anyone alive from the crash site,” Nepalese media quoted the country’s army spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari.
The 72-seater aircraft apparently lost control and crashed into a gorge of the Seti river ahead of its landing destination – Pokhara International Airport.
Local media reported that rescuers have so far managed to recover 32 bodies.
On Sunday, Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula confirmed the death of 68 passengers and crew members.
The five Indian victims have been identified as Sanjay Jaiswal, Sonu Jaiswal, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, Abhishek Khushwaha, and Vishal Sharma.
According to his relatives, Sonu Jaiswal, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was in Nepal to offer prayers at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a baby boy was fulfilled around six months ago.
Expressing grief over the crash, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families.”
The Indian embassy in Nepal shared helpline numbers (+977-9851107021 and +977-9856037699) for the worried families. “The Embassy is in touch with local authorities and is monitoring the situation,” an Embassy official said.
Apart from five Indians, there were 53 Nepali citizens, five Russians, two South Koreans, four Irish nationals and two Argentinians who lost their lives. One Australian and one French citizen are also among the dead.
Flight data shows the ill-fated Yeti Airlines flight crashed 7 kilometres before Pokhara airport. Landing permission was given by ATC. It appears that the plane crashed due to a technical snag, Nepalese authorities say.
Photographs and videos posted on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site.
In May 2022, a Tara Air plane crashed after air traffic control lost contact with the twin-propeller Twin Otter shortly after it took off from Pokhara. All 22 people on board died in the crash.
In March 2018, 51 people died after a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu’s international airport.