The crashed twin-propeller plane was built by French-based aircraft manufacturer ATR.
Kathmandu:
Nepalese authorities on Tuesday began handing over the bodies of those killed to their families, two days after a Yeti Airlines plane carrying 72 people, including five Indians, crashed in the resort city of Pokhara , when the death toll rose to 71.
When two more bodies were recovered from the scene of Tuesday’s crash, the total number of confirmed deaths has risen to 71, said Nepal Army spokesman Narayan Siwal.
According to a Nepalese Army source, one person is still missing and the search operation is continuing to find the last body.
The Yeti Airlines plane took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on Sunday morning and crashed on the banks of the Seti River between the old and new airports in Pokhara, minutes before landing.
53 Nepalese passengers and 15 foreign nationals, including 5 Indians, and 4 crew members were on board the plane when it crashed.
The five Indians, all from Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Abhisekh Kushwaha, 25, Bishal Sharma, 22, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 27, Sonu Jaiswal, 35 and Sanjaya Jaiswal.
Meanwhile, 48 bodies, including those of crew members and foreign nationals, were brought to Kathmandu by Nepal Army helicopters on Tuesday.
The bodies were taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj for an autopsy, according to airline sources.
Relatives of the victims will come to receive the body after the autopsy is completed.
The body is handed over to family members or relevant diplomatic missions in the case of foreigners.
Family members of four men from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh killed in a plane crash in Nepal have arrived in Kathmandu to receive the bodies.
Relatives of the victims were standing outside the hospital to receive the bodies. Relatives of Sanjaya Jaishwal, Shambhu Jaishwal and Arjun Kumar were also among them.
Family members of plane crash victims were consulted at the hospital premises, which is guarded by security personnel.
According to Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesman for Yeti Airlines, the bodies of 22 people, all Nepalese, killed in the tragedy were handed over to relatives by the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences on Tuesday.
Both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were recovered Monday as search and rescue teams plunged into a 300-meter canyon to resume efforts.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) records radio transmissions and other sounds in the cockpit, such as conversations between pilots and engine noises. The flight data recorder (FDR) records more than 80 different types of information such as speed, altitude and direction, as well as pilot actions and the performance of critical systems.
The boxes were handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The boxes could provide important clues about Sunday’s crash.
Radio France International reported that experts from France’s accident investigation agency are expected to travel to Nepal to assist authorities in investigating the accident.
The crashed twin-propeller plane was built by French-based aircraft manufacturer ATR.
According to data from the Aviation Safety Network, Sunday’s crash was the third-deadliest in the Himalayan nation’s history.
The only incidents that resulted in more deaths occurred in July and September 1992. Those accidents involved planes operated by Thai Airways and Pakistan International Airlines, killing 113 and 167 people, respectively.
The newly appointed Sudanese Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kirati visited the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Tuesday and inquired about the search operation being carried out, according to a statement. newspapers.
He also directed CAAN officials to conduct the search without error.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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