The country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years occurred on Sunday when an aircraft crashed nearby the city of Pokhara in central Nepal, killing at least 68 people, according to a government official.
According to Yeti Airlines spokeswoman Sudarshan Bartaula, 72 individuals’ total—68 passengers and four crew members—were aboard the ATR 72 aircraft when it crashed. There were 37 males, 25 women, three children, and three new-borns.
Search operations were suspended after sundown and will pick up again Monday morning, said army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari. Before that, Bhandari added, hundreds of first responders were still searching for the last four people.
Stats confirmed by Civil Aviation Authority:
The four crew members and 53 of the passengers, according to the civil aviation authorities, were all Nepalis. There were also fifteen international passengers aboard the aircraft: five Indians, four Russians, and two Koreans. The remainder were individual Australian, Argentinean, French, and Irish citizens.
According to the country’s state media The Rising Nepal, the plane had been travelling from Kathmandu, the capital, to Pokhara, the second-most populated city in the nation and a gateway to the Himalayas. 129 kilometers (80 miles) west of Kathmandu is where you’ll find Pokhara.
Around 18 minutes after departure, at around 10:50 a.m. local time, the aircraft lost contact with Pokhara Airport. Following that, it crashed into the neighbouring Seti River Gorge.
According to a prime minister’s spokeswoman, the government designated Monday a national holiday in memory of the victims.
Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent their sympathies, as did Australia’s representative to Nepal.
In remembrance of the disaster victims, Nepal’s Yeti Airlines announced it would postpone all scheduled flights on Monday, January 16.
Human error or unavoidable accident?
The cause for the accident is still not out as the plane experienced complete destruction in the crash. However, Nepal has been criticized in the past for not maintaining quality of standards in training the staff. The disaster authorities along with the Aviation authorities are still working on the crash site in Nepal.
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