No hope of survivors: Nepal mourns plane crash fatalities

With no hope of finding survivors, Nepal decreed this Monday a day of national mourning after the air disaster on Sunday in which at least 68 people died, including an Argentine, in the worst catastrophe of this type in the country in three decades.

The hope of finding any survivors among the 72 people on board the plane that crashed on Sunday in Nepal it is “nil,” a senior local official told AFP.

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“So far we have recovered 68 bodies. We are looking for four more bodies… We pray for a miracle. But the hope of finding someone alive is nilsaid Tek Bahadur KC, head of the Taksi district, where the plane crashed on Sunday.

The company’s twin-engined ATR 72 Yeti Airlines Coming from Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, it crashed with 72 people on board -68 passengers and four crew members- shortly before eleven in the morning local time (0515 GMT) near Pokhara (downtown), where it was supposed to land. .

The burning aircraft was found in a 300-meter-deep precipice, between the old airport built in 1958 and the new international terminal inaugurated on January 1 in Pokhara, the gateway for hikers from all over the world.

Soldiers used ropes to retrieve bodies from the bottom of the ravine from late Sunday and early Monday.

On board the plane were 15 foreigners: five citizens of India, four Russians, two Koreans, one Argentine, one Australian, one Irish and one French, said the airline’s spokesman, Sudarshan Bardaula.

The Argentine passenger was identified as Jannet Sandra Palavecino, 58, mother of two daughters and a native of the province of Neuquén (southwest), according to her country’s newspaper La Nación.

After the accident, rescuers tried to put out the fire among the remains of the device, powered by two turboprop engines.

Rescue teams work on the wreckage of a Yeti Airlines ATR72 plane after it crashed in Pokhara, Nepal, on January 15, 2023. (EFE/EPA/BIJAYA NEUPANE).

pain of relatives

The reason for the crash is not yet known, but in a video shared on social media, verified by an AFP partner, the plane is seen flying low over a residential area before banking sharply to the left. after which a loud explosion is heard.

Greg Waldon, an expert in the aviation sector, told AFP that when he saw the video, it seemed to him that the plane suffered a problem with one wing, that is, it suddenly no longer supported the weight of the machine.

Raj Dhungana, uncle of Sangita Shahi, years old and one of the fatalities in the accident, spoke of the “pain” of the whole family in front of a Pokhara hospital.

“My niece was very talented. She was also an excellent student. She was studying in Kathmandu. She ran a makeup center and an online business platform (…) God took someone so good ”, he told AFP.

In a statement dated Toulouse, in southwestern France, ATR, the plane’s manufacturer, specified that it was a 72-500 model, adding that its specialists were “fully committed to supporting both the investigation and the client.” Yeti Airlines.

The Yeti Airlines twin-engine ATR 72 from Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, crashed with 72 people on board. (Photo: Prakash MATHEMA / AFP) (PRAKASH MATHEMA /)

A history of plane crashes

The aeronautical sector of Nepal It has grown a lot in recent years, both in the transport of goods and tourists.

However, due to lack of staff training and maintenance issues, companies often suffer from security issues. The European Union therefore prohibited all Nepalese carriers from entering its airspace.

The Himalayan country also boasts some of the most remote and tricky tracks in the world, flanked by snow-capped peaks that make approaching them challenging even for experienced pilots.

The companies indicate that Nepal it does not have the infrastructure to establish accurate weather forecasts, particularly in the most remote regions and with difficult mountainous relief, where fatal accidents have been recorded in recent years.

Sunday’s is the deadliest accident in Nepal since 1992, when all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed near Kathmandu.

In May 2022, the 22 people who were traveling on board a plane of the Nepalese company Tara Air -16 Nepalese, four Indians and two Germans- died when the device crashed.

In March 2018, 51 people were killed in the crash of a US-Bangla Airlines plane that crashed near Kathmandu International Airport, in a notoriously difficult situation.

Source: Elcomercio