One of the five Indian passengers who died in the Nepal plane crash on Sunday was visiting the neighbouring country to pay obeisance at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a baby boy was fulfilled.
Sonu Jaiswal, a resident of Chak Jainab village in Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh, was blessed with a baby around six months ago. “He had two daughters. He had taken a vow to visit Pashupatinath temple if he was blessed with a son,” according to his relatives.
Sonu, who runs a beer shop in the district, was accompanied by three of his friends – Vishal Sharma, Anil Rajbhar and Abhishek Kushwaha, according to circle officer (CO) Balram.
“Sonu had gone to Nepal on January 10. The main purpose of his village was to offer prayers at the temple and then return after paragliding in Pokhara,” a relative said.
Sonu’s wife and children, who currently live in Varanasi, have not been informed about the unfortunate incident, said another relative at Chak Jainab village.
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Moments before the crash, Sonu can be seen smiling and enjoying the flight journey in a video live-streamed on Facebook. The video shows his friends saying “mauj kar di” (it is fun) before the plane took a sharp plunge and crashed into a deep riverside gorge in the resort town of Pokhara in central Nepal.
“We are going to die,” a person can be heard saying in the video. Visuals showed fire and plumes of smoke billowing from the site.
All 72 passengers and crew members on board the Yeti Airline’s Kathmandu to Pokhara flight have died, Nepali authorities confirmed on Monday.
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.