At least 68 people, including Indians, were killed in a plane crash in Nepal's Pokhara on Sunday. The incident took place near the Pokhara International Airport after a Yeti Airlines flight, carrying 72 passengers, crashed on the runway and caught fire. The airport was shut down to carry out the rescue and relief operations.
This was the deadliest air plane crash that Nepal had witnessed in the past 30 years. According to the Aviation Safety Network database, Nepal saw its deadliest aircraft crash in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into a hillside upon approach to Kathmandu. All 167 people onboard had been killed.
Here are the latest updates from the plane crash:
- A total of 68 passengers and four crew members were on board the Yeti airlines aircraft that crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport. The plane caught fire as it crashed.
- The search operation has been halted for today and bodies are yet to be retrieved, said Army officials as quoted by the news agency ANI.
- Among the passengers were several foreign nationals, including Indians. According to the airport authorities, of the 72 passengers onboard including the crew members, 53 were Nepali citizens and five were Indian, four were Russian, two South Korean, one Irish, one each from Argentina, Australia and France.
- The government of Nepal declared a one-day national mourning tomorrow in wake of the aircraft crash at Pokhara airport.
- Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia called it an unfortunate incident and shared condolences with the families of deceased. "It is an unfortunate accident. I share my condolences with the families," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
- Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting, a government statement said. A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the reasons behind the crash.
- The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft was en route from Kathmandu, capital of the Himalayan nation. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu at 10:33 am.
- While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport.
- This was Nepal's deadliest plane crash since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
- Home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, Nepal often sees air accidents as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.