Plane crashes during landing in Nepal resort town; 32 dead

KATHMANDU, Nepal — (AP) — A 72-seat Nepali passenger plane crashed right into a gorge whereas touchdown at a newly opened airport within the central resort city of Pokhara on Sunday, killing at the very least 32 individuals, an official mentioned.

Rescuers had been scouring the crash web site close to the Seti River, which is sort of a mile (1.6 kilometers) away from Pokhara Worldwide Airport, and had been anticipating to search out extra our bodies, mentioned Tek Bahadur Ok. C., a senior administrative officer within the Kaski district.

It was not instantly clear what triggered the aircraft to crash.

The dual-engine ATR 72 plane operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airways was carrying 68 passengers, together with 15 international nationals, and 4 crew members, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority mentioned in an announcement. The foreigners included 5 Indians, 4 Russians, two South Koreans, and one every from Eire, Australia, Argentina and France.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who rushed to the airport after the crash, mentioned the aircraft was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara. He urged safety personnel and most of the people to assist with the rescue efforts.

Photographs and movies shared on Twitter confirmed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash web site as rescue staff, Nepali troopers, and crowds of individuals gathered across the wreckage of the plane.

Pokhara, situated 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a preferred mountaineering path within the Himalayas. Pokhara Worldwide Airport started operations solely two weeks in the past.

Nepal, dwelling to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, together with Mount Everest, has a historical past of air crashes.

Final yr, 22 individuals died when a aircraft crashed on a mountainside in Nepal. In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger aircraft from Bangladesh crashed on touchdown in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 individuals aboard.

In 1992, all 167 individuals aboard a Pakistan Worldwide Airways aircraft had been killed when it plowed right into a hill because it tried to land in Kathmandu.

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

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