At least 68 people have died after a regional passenger plane in Nepal with 72 on board, including an Australian, crashed into a gorge while landing at a newly opened airport in the resort town of Pokhara. It is the country’s deadliest plane crash in three decades.
The country’s Civil Aviation Authority made the announcement on Twitter on Sunday as rescuers scoured the crash site near the Seti River, about 1.6 kilometers from Pokhara International Airport.
At the crash site, rescuers used ropes to pull the bodies from the wreckage, parts of which hung over the edge of the gorge. Some bodies, burned beyond recognition, were taken by firefighters to hospitals, where grieving relatives had gathered.
Rescue workers and Nepalese civilians gather around the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed in Pokhara, Nepal. (AP)
It was not immediately known what caused the plane to crash.
Local resident Bishnu Tiwari, who rushed to the crash site to help search for the bodies, said rescue efforts were hampered by thick smoke and a fire engulfing the plane.
“The flames were so hot that we could not go near the wreckage. I heard a man calling for help, but due to the flames and smoke we could not help him,” Tiwari said.
A witness to the crash said he saw the plane spin violently in the air after it began trying to land, watching from the terrace of his home. Gaurav Gurung said the plane nosedived to his left and then crashed into the gorge.
Local residents at the scene of a passenger plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP)
“The plane caught fire after the crash. There was smoke everywhere,” Gurung said.
The aviation authority said the plane last contacted the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10.50am. before falling
The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, a 27-minute flight. It was carrying 68 passengers, including 15 foreigners, as well as four crew members, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.
No further information is available on the Australian passenger.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
Locals look at the wreckage of a passenger plane as rescuers search the crash site, in Pokhara, Nepal. (AP)
Tek Bahadur KC, a senior administrative officer in Kaski district, said he expected rescue workers to find more bodies at the bottom of the gorge.
Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke rising from the crash site as rescue workers, Nepalese soldiers and crowds gathered around the wreckage to find survivors. The plane’s fuselage split into several parts that scattered across the gorge.
Chief Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who rushed to the airport after the crash, set up a panel to investigate the crash.
“The incident was tragic. The entire strength of Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,” he said.
People at the scene of a passenger plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal. (AP)
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is still trying to confirm the fate of two South Korean passengers and has dispatched personnel to the scene.
The type of aircraft involved, the ATR 72, has been used by several airlines around the world for short regional flights. Introduced in the late 1980s by a French and Italian partnership, the model aircraft has been involved in several fatal accidents over the years. In 2018, an ATR 72 operated by Iran’s Aseman Airlines crashed in a mountainous and foggy region, killing all 65 on board.
ATR identified the aircraft involved in Sunday’s crash as an ATR 72-500 in a tweet. According to flightradar24.com aircraft tracking data, the plane was 15 years old and “was equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data”. It was previously flown by India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Thailand’s Nok Air before Yeti took over in 2019, according to records on Airfleets.net. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 aircraft, company spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said.
Some of the wreckage may be the scene as rescuers scour the site of a plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal. (AP)
Pokhara, located 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular trekking route in the Himalayas.
The Pokhara International Airport started operations just two weeks ago. It was built with Chinese construction and financial support. The Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, said in a tweet that he was “very shocked” to learn of the accident.
“At this difficult time, our thoughts are with the Nepali people. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the victims and my sincere condolences to the bereaved families,” he wrote.
Sunday’s crash is the deadliest in Nepal since 1992, when all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed into a hill while trying to land in Kathmandu.
Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, Nepal has a history of air crashes. According to the Flight Safety Foundation’s aviation safety database, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal since 1946.
Relatives of passengers of a plane that crashed in Nepal wait for news at Kathmandu airport. (AP)
Last year, 22 people died when a plane crashed into a mountainside in Nepal. In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter flying from Pokhara to Kathmandu crashed after takeoff, killing all 23 people on board.
In 2012, an Agni Air plane flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, killing 15 people. Six people survived. In 2014, a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed, killing all 18 on board.
In 1992, all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed into a hill while trying to land in Kathmandu.