One plane crashed and 68 people died, including an Argentine

Pokhara.- At least 68 people died This Sunday Nepal Al A plane crash In this 72 people traveled. The aircraft is owned by the company Yeti Airlines and went from the capital, Kathmandu, up to Pokhara, in the center of the country. Bodies were found in the valley where ATR 72 fell and some of the bodies were taken to hospitals. It was the Asian nation’s worst air tragedy in three decades.

According to information given by the agency in the morning AFP And Reuters, There were 68 passengers on board, one of whom was an Argentinian. and four board members. All of these were sent by Eti Airlines, however, without detailing the status of these individuals. There were also 14 foreigners in it: Five Indian nationals, four Russians, two Koreans, one Australian, one Irish and one FrenchCompany spokesperson Sudarsan Bardaula said.

around noon, Nation An Argentine was able to confirm from sources close to the identified case Janet Sandra Palavecino, born in 1965, died in an accident. And that His brother already knew This is sad news.

The plane crashed shortly before eleven in the morning (local time). Near Pokhara, where it should land, but the reasons are still unclear. The city is an important crossing point Devotees and mountaineers Other races.

while, There were no casualties or injuries among residents of the town. This was confirmed by Mayor Dhanaraj Acharya.

The plane’s burnt fuselage was found in a deep gorge between the old Pokhara airport, built in 1958, and the city’s new international terminal, which opened on January 1. After the accident, the rescuers tried Extinguish the fire Among the aircraft remains, the ATR 72 is powered by two turboprop engines.

Airplane I am 15 years old And was “An old transponder fitted with unreliable data”, According to data from the Air Traffic Control Service flightradar24.com. It was managed by India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Thailand’s Nok Air, before Eti Airways took over the fleet in 2019. Airfleets.net. Airlines around the world use this model for short-haul flights. Introduced in the late 1980s by a French and Italian venture, it has been involved in several fatal accidents over the years.

“The plane crashed in a ravine, so it is difficult to get the bodies out. Search and rescue operation is going on. No survivors have yet been found.”, he said AFP Army Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari.

However, a local official initially complied “Some” survivors were taken to hospitalBut this has not been confirmed by Eti Airlines or other sources.

Rescue teams have already reached the spot and are trying to douse the fire. “All agencies are focused on extinguishing the fire and rescuing the passengers,” they said from the local government when the incident took place.

For his part, the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal DahalIt indicated that the plane was flying from the capital. Towards Kathmandu Pokharaand requested security personnel and the general public to assist in rescue operations.

Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke rising from the crash site as rescuers and civilians swarmed around.

A plane carrying more than 70 passengers has crashed in Nepal

Nepal has a remarkable track record in aviation security. Last year, 22 people were killed when a plane crashed into a mountain in that country. In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people on board.

Nepal’s aviation industry has grown a lot in recent years both in terms of goods and people. Tourist traffic, especially foreign trekkers and mountaineers, has increased. However, due to training and maintenance issues for employees, companies often suffer from security issues.

The European Union (EU) has banned all Nepalese carriers from entering its airspace for security reasons. The Himalayan country has some of the most remote and treacherous tracks in the world, surrounded by snow-capped peaks that are challenging to access even for experienced pilots.

Likewise, the companies note that Nepal lacks the infrastructure to establish accurate weather forecasts, especially in the most remote areas and rugged mountains, where fatal accidents have been recorded in recent years.

With information from AFP, AP and Reuters

Nation