Nepal: Bodies of plane crash victims handed over to families

The hospitals of Nepal began delivering to families Tuesday the bodies of the victims of the plane crash that occurred two days earlier, in the worst air tragedy to hit this country in three decades.

The plane, a twin-engine ATR 72 from the Nepalese company with 68 passengers and four crew members on board, crashed into a ravine near the Pokhara airport (center), the gateway for trekkers from all over the world.

LOOK: A shocking video filmed from inside the plane shows how the accident that left 68 dead in Nepal was

All the occupants of the device, including 15 foreigners – five citizens of India, four Russians, two Koreans, one Argentine, one Australian, one Irish and one French – and six children, are dead, according to the authorities.

Rescuers have worked tirelessly since the accident to recover the remains of the victims among the fragments of the device, the fuselage and the charred seats at the bottom of the precipice, about 300 meters deep.

By Tuesday, 70 bodies out of 72 had been recovered, police officer AK Chhetri told AFP.

“We found a body last night. But they were three pieces. We are not sure if it is three bodies or just one. It will be confirmed later with a DNA test, ”she explained.

“The search for the missing bodies has resumed. Today (Tuesday) we have mobilized four drones for that, and we have expanded the search radius to three kilometers instead of two”he added.

Autopsies and DNA tests

On Tuesday, medical personnel, dressed in protective suits and masks, placed several bodies wrapped in plastic tarpaulins in military trucks, before the tears of their relatives, wracked with grief.

The vehicles went to the airport, where the remains will be flown to Kathmandu, the capital.

Among the victims was a journalist, Tribhuban Poudel, whose coffin was covered with orange flowers.

According to Chhetri, eight bodies have already been handed over to families, and another 14 will be subjected to autopsies in Pokhara. Another 48 will be transferred to Kathmandu, to carry out a DNA test and be able to hand them over to their families.

The ATR 72 plane, coming from Kathmandu, crashed shortly before 1100 (0515 GMT) on Sunday near the airport of Pokhara, the second city of Nepal.

The cause of the accident is still unknown, but a video broadcast on social networks – verified by an AFP partner – showed how the device turned sharply to the left as it approached the airfield, while a loud explosion was heard.

Rescuers remove the body of a victim who died in a Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara on January 16, 2023. (Photo: PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) (PRAKASH MATHEMA /)

black boxes

The black boxes of the plane, made by ATR, a subsidiary of Airbus and the Italian Leonardo group, were handed over to authorities on Monday, said Bikram Raj Gautam, head of Pokhara’s international airport.

“It seems that the flight, which was supposed to land on the east side, headed west and landed after making a turn. We don’t know if this was due to a mistake or for a technical reason.”a local official, Tek Bahadur KC, told AFP.

According to the Press Trust of India (PTI) agency, the pilot, Anju Khatiwada, had entered Nepalese civil aviation after the death of her husband in an accident with a small passenger plane in 2006.

The country’s civil aviation sector, essential for bringing supplies to remote regions and moving climbers, has grown a lot in recent years.

But due to lack of staff training and maintenance issues, companies often experience security problems.

The European Union therefore prohibited all Nepalese carriers from entering its airspace.

The worst air disaster in the history of this Himalayan country occurred in September 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu. 167 people died.

Source: Elcomercio