Nepal plane crash claims 14 lives, 8 missing

MUSTANG-(MaraviPost)-At least 14 bodies have been recovered from the Nepal plane crash that went down with 22 people on board on Sunday, May 29.

The spokesperson for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, Deo Chandra Lal, confirmed the news in a statement on Monday adding that the search for the others missing was still ongoing.

Chandra Lal said the turboprop took off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 80 miles (125km) west of the capital, Kathmandu, headed towards Jomsom, about 48 miles to the northwest.

However, the Twin Otter 9N-AET plane operated by Tara Air lost contact minutes after it took off before searching operations begun.

According to officials, the searching operation was halted following the cloudy weather that prevented the search helicopters from flying into the area of the flight’s last known location.

Reports indicate that there were 19 passengers and three crew members on board included four Indians, two Germans, and 16 Nepalis when the accident happened.

The home ministry spokesperson Phadindra Mani Pokhrel has been quoted by Al Jazeera saying: “Preliminary assessment shows that no one could have survived the plane crash, but an official statement is due.”

Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, has experienced a number of air accidents over the years.

In 2016, all 23 people aboard were killed when a plane of the same airline flying the same route crashed after takeoff.

In March 2018, a US-Bangla Air crash occurred at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 51 people on board.

Angella Semu

I hold a Bachelor of science degree in Agriculture Development Communication that I obtained from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I previously worked with The Nation Publications Limited since 2018 before joining The Maravi post particularly on Agriculture Desk as an intern before I became a correspondent. Currently I am reporting for The Maravi Post mainly in International News and locally in the Southern region of Malawi.