Nepal plane crash: No survivors, recovery of bodies begins, says local media

Nepal plane crash: No survivors, recovery of bodies begins, says local media

Nepal plane crash: No survivors, recovery of bodies begins, says local media

PTI 

Kathmandu : No survivors have been found from the Tara Air plane that crashed in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district on Sunday with 22 people on board, including four Indians, minutes after taking off from the tourist city of Pokhara, Nepalese media reported on Monday.

The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane belonging to Tara Air went missing on Sunday morning in the mountainous region in Nepal. The Canadian-built plane, flying to popular tourist town Jomsom in central Nepal, was carrying four Indian nationals, two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers, besides a three-member Nepali crew.

Inda Singh, who was on his way to clear a blocked road, found out that the plane had crashed. He said the plane was found in a completely damaged condition, MyRepublica newspaper reported.

"All the passengers on the aircraft are found dead. The dead bodies are intact and the faces of all victims are recognisable,” he was quoted as saying by the paper. Singh said there was a problem in collecting the bodies as they were in a nearby ditch.

He said there was no fire on the aircraft. The aircraft could have met with an accident after hitting a cliff nearby.

In a statement, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said 14 bodies have been found from the wreckage of the ill-fated plane on Monday. It said that the plane had crashed at Thasang-2 in Mustang district at the height of 14,500 feet.

Search and rescue teams from Nepal Army, Air Dynasty, Kailash Helicopter, Fishtail Air Helicopter and other rescue workers have been deployed at the crash site.

The airline's passengers list identified four Indians as Ashok Kumar Tripathy, wife Vaibhavi Bandekar (Tripathy) and their children Dhanush and Ritika. The family was based in Thane city near Mumbai.

Pieces of the wreckage of the aircraft were found after nearly 20 hours since the plane went missing, the Nepal Army said on Monday.

"The search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site. Details will be followed,” Nepal Army Spokesperson Brigadier General Narayan Silwal had tweeted earlier.

“Crash site: Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang,” he tweeted along with a picture of what appears to be the wreckage of the aircraft.

Tara Air spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said, “The plane slammed into the mountain breaking into pieces.”

“The impact has blown the bodies all over the hill,” he said.

The photo posted on the social media site shows the tail and one wing of the aircraft intact.