An air tragedy occurred this Sunday in Nepal when a local company Yeti Airlines plane, with more than 70 people on board, crashed in the Pokhara district, some 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu, while trying to land.
According to local media, the Nepal Army spokesman, Krishna Prasad Bhandari, specified that they had recovered the bodies of 16 victims.
Shortly after, a local official raised that number to 30.
"There were 68 passengers on board and four crew members," company spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said.
The aircraft had departed from the Nepalese capital and was covering a domestic route.
The accident occurred in the Seti River Gorge, near the Pokhara airport.
"Rescuers have already reached the site and are trying to put out the fire. All agencies are focused on putting out the fire and rescuing the passengers," said Gurudutta Dhakal, a local official.
“We hope to recover more bodies,” Krishna Bhandari added.
"The plane has been broken into pieces," he graphed.
According to Jagannath Niraula, a spokesman for the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 aircraft took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at approximately 10:32 a.m. and was due to land 27 minutes later in Pokhara.
Meanwhile, after the accident, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Daha "Prachanda" said he was "deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident."
"I sincerely appeal to security personnel, all Nepal government agencies and the general public to initiate an effective rescue," he wrote on Twitter.
The journey that the plane made for 31 minutes, according to the Flightradar24 site
On the same social network, the Indian Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, stated: “The loss of life in a tragic plane crash in Nepal is extremely unfortunate.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bereaved.
Om Shanti."
Nepal, an unsafe country to fly
Air transport in Nepal has grown a lot in recent years, thanks to the high number of tourists, many of them mountain lovers.
But this Himalayan country has a dismal safety record due to poorly trained pilots and
aircraft maintenance problems
.
The European Union has banned all Nepalese airlines from accessing its airspace for security reasons.
The country also has very dangerous tracks, located between snow-covered mountains.
In March 2018, a Bangladeshi US-Bangla Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu airport, killing 51 people.
The most dramatic accident occurred in 1992, when 167 people lost their lives when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu airport.
Two months earlier, a Thai Airways plane had crashed in this same area, killing 113 people.
Last May, meanwhile, a Tara Air company plane with 22 people on board crashed near the Himalayas in western Nepal.
The rescue teams located at least fourteen bodies among the remains of the ship.
The Jomsom-bound flight had taken off in Pokhara and then lost contact with air traffic control, said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesman for Kathmandu-based Tara Air.
The Twin Otter plane, which was carrying 19 passengers - including two Germans and four Indians - and three crew members, had taken off from Pokhara, but contact was lost about 15 minutes later.
With information from AFP and EFE.
IS
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