NEW DELHI: Five Indian nationals died after a Yeti Airways aircraft carrying 72 passengers crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in central Nepal's resort city of Pokhara on Sunday.
Sixty-eight bodies have been recovered so far while preliminary investigations suggest technical reasons behind the horrific accident.
"Hopes of finding survivors from Nepal's worst air disaster in decades are fading," said the police as reported by BBC.
"Early indications point to a stall and VMC (visual meteorological conditions) roll. The VMC roll occurs primarily because a thrusting engine located on a wing decreases the stall speed significantly. Therefore, as airspeed decreases, a moment occurs when the wing with non-thrusting engines stalls, while the other wing continues to produce lift," an aviation expert told this newspaper.
Of the five Indian victims, four were reportedly planning to go paragliding in Pokhara. They have been identified as Abhishekh Kushwaha (25), Bishal Sharma (22), Anil Kumar Rajbhar (27), Sonu Jaiswal (35) and Sanjaya Jaiswal. Four of them had arrived in Kathmandu on January 13.
In fact, a cellphone had captured the disturbing moments of the crash and went viral on social media. Reports suggest that the video which went viral on social media was captured by Sonu Jaiswal.
"These Indian men stayed in Gaushala near Pashupatinath Temple and then in Hotel Discovery of Thamel in Kathmandu before departing for Pokhara," claimed a person who drove with them in Kathmandu. They were planning to return to India via Gorakhpur.
The other foreign nationals on board included four Russians, two Koreans and one Argentinian, Australian, Irish and French, the remaining 53 were Nepalese which included three children and three infants.
Nepal has declared a day of national mourning and a five-member committee will investigate the reasons for the crash.
"Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and wishes are with the bereaved families," said PM Narendra Modi extending his condolences to Nepal's newly appointed PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prachanda.
This is the second air crash in Nepal in less than one year. Tara Air 9NAET a twin-engine aircraft crashed in Kowang village of Mustang district after taking off from Pokhara in May 2022. All 22 onboard died which included four Indians of a family.
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Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed grief over the air crash and said "our thoughts are with the affected families."
"Deeply grieved on hearing about the air crash in Pokhara, Nepal. Our thoughts are with the affected families," Jaishankar said in a tweet.
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