Related News
Bodies recovered from Nepal crash site
Print Edition
Nepalese troops have recovered 18 bodies from the wreckage of a plane that crashed into a hillside, the latest disaster to hit the country’s internationally-blacklisted airlines.
Body parts and debris from the Nepal Airlines plane, which was carrying 15 passengers and three crew, were found yesterday scattered in a village next to the site of Sunday’s crash in the mountainous western region.
Rescuers dug through overnight snow that had covered passengers’ bodies in Arghakhanchi district, 226 kilometers northwest of Katmandu, a police official at the scene said.
“It was horrible, we found burned body parts. Only eight people had undamaged faces,” Kiran Khatri told reporters.
The plane’s black box flight recorder was also found as the government announced an investigation into the crash, said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesman for the tourism and civil aviation ministry.
“The government has formed a 4-member probe team to investigate the accident,” Sapkota said, adding that investigators would report within two months.
The Twin Otter propeller plane, carrying Nepalese and one passenger from Denmark, lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the popular tourist town of Pokhara on Sunday afternoon in poor visibility due to snow, rain and fog.
The state-run carrier’s aircraft, in regular use since 1971, encountered heavy rain on its way to the town of Jumla, 353 kilometers west of Katmandu.
The torrential downpour eventually forced helicopters to stop their hunt for the plane on Sunday.
Police resumed their search at first light yesterday, finally spotting scattered pieces of the wreckage during an aerial search of Arghakhanchi.
The crash came just weeks after the country’s airlines were banned from flying to the European Union over safety concerns.
An airline spokesman said engineers had refurbished the plane in recent weeks, leaving it in good condition.
“The preliminary report shows that the cause of the crash was the bad weather,” said spokesman Ram Hari Sharma.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
