Nepal plane crash kills all 14
Source: Agencies |
August 25, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SMALL passenger plane heading to the Mount Everest region crashed in heavy rain yesterday outside Nepal's capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including four Americans, a Briton and a Japanese, officials said.
The private Agni Air plane went down near Shikharpur village, about 80 kilometers south of Katmandu, area police chief Ram Bahadur Shrestha said.
The German-built Dornier turboprop airplane was carrying 11 passengers and three crew members. It was headed to Lukla - a popular stop for trekkers and mountaineers - when cloud cover there forced it to turn back to the capital.
Ram Bahadur Gole, a villager who witnessed the accident, told Avenues Television network that the crash impact broke the plane into several pieces that were scattered on a hillside.
Tri Ratna Manandhar of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal confirmed there were no survivors. Manandhar said there were four Americans, one Briton and one Japanese aboard, while the remaining passengers and crew were Nepalese.
Agni Air said the foreigners were tourists.
After an initial delay in reaching the crash site because of poor weather conditions, a rescue helicopter retrieved some of the bodies to Katmandu late yesterday. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and American and Japanese diplomats were at the airport.
The bodies would be moved to a Katmandu hospital for identification, and retrieving the rest of the remains from the remote crash site would continue today, officials said.
The rescue coordination office said soldiers had reached the crash site on foot.
The private Agni Air plane went down near Shikharpur village, about 80 kilometers south of Katmandu, area police chief Ram Bahadur Shrestha said.
The German-built Dornier turboprop airplane was carrying 11 passengers and three crew members. It was headed to Lukla - a popular stop for trekkers and mountaineers - when cloud cover there forced it to turn back to the capital.
Ram Bahadur Gole, a villager who witnessed the accident, told Avenues Television network that the crash impact broke the plane into several pieces that were scattered on a hillside.
Tri Ratna Manandhar of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal confirmed there were no survivors. Manandhar said there were four Americans, one Briton and one Japanese aboard, while the remaining passengers and crew were Nepalese.
Agni Air said the foreigners were tourists.
After an initial delay in reaching the crash site because of poor weather conditions, a rescue helicopter retrieved some of the bodies to Katmandu late yesterday. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and American and Japanese diplomats were at the airport.
The bodies would be moved to a Katmandu hospital for identification, and retrieving the rest of the remains from the remote crash site would continue today, officials said.
The rescue coordination office said soldiers had reached the crash site on foot.
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