A passenger plane crashed in Nepal on Sunday morning, killing at least 66 passengers.
When the plane crashed, it was en route from Kathmandu, the country’s capital, to Pokhara. A vibrant tourist destination, Pokhara is located 124 miles (200 kilometres) west of Kathmandu.
Four crew members were among the 72 passengers that boarded Nepal’s Yeti Airlines’ twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, according to airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.
According to a Nepal police spokeswoman, 66 dead have been removed from the scene so far, and no survivors have been discovered.
According to a government announcement, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has convened an urgent cabinet meeting in response to the jet disaster.
He wrote on Twitter, “I am profoundly pained by the unfortunate and fatal tragedy of Yeti Airlines’ ANC ATR 72, which was carrying people on a flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara.
I truly request that a successful rescue effort be started by security officers, all government agencies in Nepal, and the general populace.
The government has established a commission to look into the crash.
Responders have already arrived and are battling the fire. All agencies are currently concentrating on extinguishing the fire and saving the passengers, according to local official Gurudutta Dhakal.
Local media showed rescuers and throngs of onlookers gathered around the airplane wreckage as dense black smoke billowed from the crash site.
According to an eyewitness, the plane started to try a landing and began to spin erratically in the air before plummeting nose-first to its left and smashing into the canyon.
“After the crash, the aircraft caught fire. The eyewitness said, “There was smoke everywhere.
At 10:50 am (05:05 GMT), the aircraft made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge, according to a statement from the aviation authorities. It crashed afterwards.
Arun Tamu, a local resident, informed the media that he arrived at the crash site shortly after the plane crashed down and that “half of the plane lies on the slope.”
“The other half has tumbled into the Seti river’s gorge.”
According to officials speaking to the media, the large number of people present at the crash site has caused challenges for the continuing rescue effort. They are being pushed to depart by the rescue teams.
Locals in Pokhara claimed the weather and visibility were “excellent” at the time of the incident, according to Ramyata Limbu.
So the crash is stunning and unexpected, Limbu remarked. “Eyewitnesses reported that the plane was experiencing issues before to its crash into a canyon not far from the airport.”
According to Aviation Safety Network, the accident is the deadliest in Nepal since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 persons on board.
In May, a Tara Air-owned aircraft went down less than 20 minutes after departing from Pokhara.
Since 2000, at least 309 people have perished in helicopter or plane crashes in Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s fourteen tallest mountains, including Everest, and where the weather is unpredictable and hazardous.
