All Passangers Dead As Wreckage Of Plane Found In Nepal
KABUL: (MEP) Rescue teams in western Nepal have found the wreckage of a passenger plane that went missing with 23 people on board in a remote mountainous area, the aviation minister said.
The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, took off on Wednesday morning from Pokhara to Jomsom and lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off.
Everyone on board is feared dead, Nepali Tourism and Aviation Minister Ananda Pokharel said. He said a few bodies have been found, but are unrecognizable.
The total flight time was supposed to be 19 minutes, but contact was lost eight minutes after takeoff.
According to Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the plane’s wreckage was found near the village of Dana in Myagdi district.
More security agencies are being deployed in the area and are trying to get more information.
The airline said the plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one a Chinese and one a Kuwaiti national, revising an earlier figure of 18 passengers.
All the others were from Nepal and two of them were children.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Pokhara is a resort town some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu. Jomsom, a short distance further north, is the starting point for many people trekking in the Himalayas.
