Eighteen people lost their lives on Wednesday when a small plane crashed at the airport in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. The incident occurred when the plane was taking off. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the agencies AFP, AP and Reuters.
24.07.2024 09:12 , updated: 09:23
Photo: SITA/AP, Agniia Galdanova
Plane crash in Kathmandu, Nepal. July 24, 2024
“There were 19 people on board, including the crew,” the Kathmandu Post news portal said, citing an airport spokesman. The portal later reported that rescuers picked up 18 bodies from the scene of the accident. According to the media, the only survivor of the accident was the pilot of the plane, who was taken to the hospital.
According to the AP agency, the plane went off the runway and crashed during takeoff, while the circumstances of the accident were not immediately clear. According to Nepali media, the plane caught fire after the accident. Photos published on the Kathmandu Post news website show the burnt wreckage of the plane.
According to AP, Kathmandu’s Tribhuvana International Airport was closed after the accident and emergency services were on the scene.
The crashed plane belongs to the Nepalese Saurya Airlines and was supposed to fly from Kathmandu to Nepal’s second largest city, Pokhara. According to its website, this company exclusively uses Bombardier CRJ 200 aircraft.
It is currently monsoon season in Kathmandu, but it was not raining at the time of the accident. However, visibility in the Nepalese capital was poor, writes AP.
Nepal’s aviation industry has been booming in recent years, but has been marred by poor safety due to inadequate staff training and machine maintenance. The European Union has even banned all Nepalese airlines from flying in its airspace for security reasons.
The last major plane accident in Nepal occurred last January, when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed on landing at the Pokhara airport. The accident then claimed the lives of all 72 people on board.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
