At least 14 dead in Nepal plane crash, rescue operations continue By Reuters

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Rescue workers in Nepal on Monday recovered 14 bodies as they scoured a distant Himalayan mountainside scattered with the wreckage of a small airplane that crashed with 22 aboard, with officials stating the probability of obtaining survivors was slender.

Operated by privately owned Tara Air, the plane went down through cloudy weather on Sunday and was spotted by Nepal’s army earlier on Monday immediately after search functions that were halted overnight ended up resumed.

“There is extremely minimal opportunity to locate survivors,” stated Deo Chandra Lal Karna, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

Tek Raj Sitaula, a spokesman for the Tribhuvan Worldwide Airport in Nepal’s cash Kathmandu, claimed bodies of 14 people had been observed so significantly by rescue groups.

“The search for many others is continuing,” Sitaula advised Reuters.

The De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter plane took off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on Sunday morning.

The desired destination was Jomsom, a popular tourist and pilgrimage web page that lies about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Pokhara – commonly a 20-minute flight.

But the aircraft – with four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis aboard – dropped speak to with the Pokhara management tower five minutes ahead of it was because of to land, airlines officers stated.

The crash web page is in the location where by Mount Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh highest peak at 8,167 metres (26,795 toes) is located, in proximity to Nepal’s borders with China.

Soldiers from Nepal’s military and other rescue staff had been operating in tricky mountainous terrain at an altitude of all over 14,500 ft with a significant cloud cover, officials explained.

Netra Prasad Sharma, the most senior bureaucrat in the Mustang district, where the crash took place, explained weather conditions ailments remained hard.

“There is pretty thick cloud in the spot,” he told Reuters by cellphone. “The search for bodies is heading on.”

Flight-tracking internet site Flightradar24 explained the aircraft, with registration amount 9N-AET, made its 1st flight in April 1979.

Nepal, home to 8 of the world’s 14 maximum mountains, together with Everest, has a history of air incidents. Its temperature can adjust all of a sudden and airstrips are commonly located in mountainous areas that are really hard to get to.

In early 2018, an US-Bangla Airways flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fireplace, killing 51 of the 71 persons on board.