Plane crash in the Himalayas: all victims recovered dead

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Crash in Nepal: plane wreck in the mountains

Photo: Fishtail Air / dpa

Rescuers have recovered the last of the 22 fatalities from the Himalayan plane crash.

This was announced by a Nepalese army spokesman on Twitter.

The bodies are to be taken from the accident site at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters in the foothills of the Himalayas to the capital Kathmandu as soon as the weather improves.

The bodies are to be identified and then handed over to the relatives.

The BBC and the Asian News International news agency also report that the plane's black box has been found.

The BBC quoted a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) as saying: "The cockpit voice recorder, also known as the plane's black box, was recovered at the crash site. "We are preparing to fly the black box to Kathmandu by helicopter .«

In addition to two Germans from Hesse, 16 Nepalese and four Indians were on board the plane.

According to the police, the salvage work took longer than expected due to bad weather.

Accident-prone route

Air traffic control lost contact with the plane of the Nepalese airline Tara Air on Sunday morning.

The plane, with 19 passengers and three crew members, was on its way from Pokhara – a popular tourist destination around 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu – to Jomsom, a flight that actually took around 15 to 20 minutes.

The Pokhara-Jomsom flight route is considered one of the most accident-prone routes in Nepal.

According to the Nepali Times, at least 74 people have died in five plane crashes on this route since 1997.

The airline states on its website that it is on a list of recognized airlines from the German TUI Group and that safety analyzes are carried out every two years.

TUI says that this information is incorrect and that it has no business relationship with the airline or carries out audits.

"On the contrary: it is not recommended to use the airline," says TUI.

The Department of Civil Aviation announced on Monday that there would be an investigation into the crash.

ptz/dpa