Kathmandu At least 68 people died in a plane crash in Nepal on Sunday, according to a local government official. According to the civil aviation authority, there were 68 passengers and four crew members on board the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft belonging to the Nepalese company Yeti. 15 passengers came from abroad. The accident occurred near the newly opened Pokhara City International Airport. It was Nepal’s deadliest plane crash in three decades.

According to civil aviation authorities, the passengers from abroad consisted of five people from India, four Russians, two South Koreans and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

Rescue workers were on duty at the crash site in a canyon on the Seti River about a mile from the airport, said Tek Bahadur KC, a senior administrative official in Kaski County. The fuselage had broken into pieces, which were strewn across the canyon. The cause of the accident was initially unknown. According to flightradar24.com, the plane was 15 years old and had an old transponder with unreliable data.

Rescue workers were on duty at the crash site in a canyon on the Seti River about a mile from the airport, said Tek Bahadur KC, a senior administrative official in Kaski County. The fuselage had broken into pieces, which were strewn across the canyon. The cause of the accident was initially unknown. According to flightradar24.com, the plane was 15 years old and had an old transponder with unreliable data.

Rescue workers used ropes to retrieve bodies from the wreck. Part of the wreck hangs over the edge of the canyon. Several corpses were burned beyond recognition. They were taken to the hospital by firefighters. Distraught relatives gathered there.

According to civil aviation authorities, the passengers from abroad consisted of five people from India, four Russians, two South Koreans and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal rushed to the crash site. He said the army and police were fully involved in the rescue operation. Dahal set up a commission to investigate the crash. According to him, the plane was on its way from the capital Kathmandu to the interior of Pokhara. Flight duration is usually 27 minutes.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal rushed to the crash site. He said the plane was en route from the capital Kathmandu to the interior of Pokhara. He called on security forces and the public to support the rescue operation.

Located on a lake in the heart of the country, this city is often used by tourists as a starting point for trekking tours in the Annapurna Mountains. Pokhara is 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu. The city’s international airport started operating two weeks ago.
Photos and videos on Twitter showed smoke rising from the crash site, as well as rescue workers and dozens of people gathering around the wreckage.

There was a plane crash in the past in the Himalayan state of Nepal. Last year, 22 people died, including two Germans, when a plane crashed into a mountainside. In 2018, a Bangladeshi plane crashed while landing in Kathmandu. 49 of the 71 people on board were killed.

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