Nepal plane crash with 72 onboard leaves at least 67 dead | Nepal

At least 67 people were confirmed dead and hope was fading for any survivors after a plane with 72 on board crashed in Nepal on Sunday, the Himalayan country’s deadliest aviation disaster in three decades.

“Thirty-one [bodies] have been taken to hospitals,” said police official AK Chhetri, adding that 36 other bodies were still in the 300-metre gorge the aircraft plunged into at the site in Pokhara in central Nepal.

“The aircraft crashed into a gorge so it is difficult to bring the bodies. Search and rescue is ongoing. No survivors have been found yet,” said army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari.

Yeti Airlines, which operated the flight, confirmed there were 72 people onboard – 68 passengers and four crew. According to an airport official, there were 15 foreign nationals among the passengers including one Australian, one French, one Argentinian, four Russians, five Indians, two South Koreans and one person from Ireland.

The twin-propeller aircraft, which was 15 years old, had been travelling from the capital Kathmandu to the city of Pokhara in central Nepal, a popular gateway to the Himalayan mountains for religious pilgrims and international trekkers. The plane took off at 10:30am and crashed on the banks of the Seti Gandaki river just 10 to 20 seconds before it was due to land at the newly opened Pokhara international airport.

Footage shared on social media, which appeared to be shot just after the crash, showed the plane enveloped in raging flames on the ground as black smoke billowed into the sky from debris strewn across the crash site.

Another clip shared online showed a plane flying at a low altitude over a residential area banking sharply to the left, followed by a loud explosion.

The wreckage was still burning after the crash and rescue workers who reached the site worked to put out the blaze and recover the bodies.

“Responders have already reached there and trying to douse the fire,” said local official Gurudutta Dhakal soon after the incident. “All agencies are now focused on first dousing the fire and rescuing the passengers.”

Nepal’s prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency meeting following the crash. The Nepal government has also formed a five-member commission of inquiry to probe the cause of the incident.

Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas, as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.

But it has also been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance. In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air died when it crashed and in March 2018, 51 people died when a US-Bangla Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu.

The European Union has banned all Nepal airlines from its airspace over safety concerns.

The Himalayan country also has some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.

Aircraft operators say Nepal lacks infrastructure for accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with challenging mountainous terrain where deadly crashes have taken place in the past. The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.