After a plane crash in Nepal, hope for survivors dwindles. Hundreds of emergency services are on site.
A passenger plane crashed in the Nepalese city of Pokhara on Sunday morning. The coordinator of the rescue work on site corrected the death toll on Monday morning: So far, 66 of the 72 people on board have been found and taken to a hospital for identification. The bodies would then be handed over to the relatives.
On Sunday, the affected Nepalese Yeti Airlines confirmed the death of 69 people. According to the coordinator, this difference is because teams from several teams searched for dead people in the ravine where the wreckage lies, and some bodies were double counted. On board the Yeti Airlines plane were 68 passengers and four crew members.
Rescue work continues
“We don’t know at the moment if there are any survivors,” an airline spokesman told AFP. The rescue work is in progress. According to the dpa news agency, around 300 police officers and additional members of the army were on site.
After the crash, rescue workers fought the flames rising from the wreckage, thick smoke hung over the gorge. Debris was scattered in a wide area. Hundreds of curious people gathered around the crash site.
Six children among passengers
As Yeti Airlines announced on Twitter, in addition to 53 passengers from Nepal, there were also five Indians, four Russians, two Koreans and one person each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France. Six passengers were therefore children. The company initially did not comment on the cause.
The crash happened around 11 a.m. local time just before the scheduled landing near Pokhara International Airport in a ravine. The plane with the flight number YT691 had started in the capital Kathmandu in central Nepal. The flight time from there to Pokhara is usually around 30 minutes. At 10.50 a.m. there was the last contact with the cockpit, as the airline announced.
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Footage shows seconds before the crash
The plane involved in the accident was an ATR 72-500, a short-haul regional airliner manufactured by a joint venture between Europe’s Airbus and Leonardo. According to the company, Yeti Airlines’ fleet consists of six aircraft of this type. ATR said they would help with the investigation.
Footage circulating online showed a low-flying plane over a residential area suddenly banking to the left before a loud explosion was heard. You can also see the scenes in the video above.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency Council of Ministers meeting after the crash, the Kathmandu Post reported. He instructed the Interior Ministry, security personnel and all government agencies to initiate immediate rescue and relief efforts.
Nepalese airlines blacklisted by EU
Safety standards in Nepal’s air transport are low due to insufficient staff training and poor maintenance of the machines. The European Union has therefore banned all Nepalese airlines from its airspace. In addition, the Himalayan state is home to some of the most remote and difficult airstrips. That weather in Nepal’s mountains can change quickly and create dangerous flight conditions. Read more about it here.
Pokhara is about 200 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu and is the starting point for numerous trekking tours in the Himalayas, including the Annapurna circuit. The Annapurna massif is a popular trekking region in the country.