By Reuters and published by The Business Standard
Kathmandu – At least 40 people were killed on Sunday (Jan. 15) when an aircraft of domestic carrier Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, a Nepal aviation authority official said.
“Rescue operations are on,” said Jagannath Niroula, spokesman for Nepal civil aviation authority. “Weather was clear.”
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
There were 72 people on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals, said airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.
Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside crash site.
The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
The ATR72 is a widely used twin engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.
Air accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
CAPTIONS:
Top photo collected by The Business Standard
Insert: Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, watches live television broadcast after an aircraft carrying 72 people crashed in Pokhara in western Nepal today, Jan. 15, 2023. Photo: Pradeep Raj Onta/PM Secretary Photographer/Handout via Reuters and published by TBS
Front Page: Crowds gather at the crash site of an aircraft carrying 72 people in Pokhara in western Nepal on Jan. 15, 2023. Photo: Sagar Raj Timilsina/Handout via Reuters and published by TBS
Watch video of the crash shared on Twitter by Rahul Sisodia :
A total of 68 passengers & four crew members were on board the Yeti airlines aircraft that crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport, Sudarshan #Bartaula, spokesperson of Yeti Airlines: The Kathmandu Post#nepal pic.twitter.com/ap0Q02NivV
— Rahul Sisodia (@Sisodia19Rahul) January 15, 2023
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