Tragedy in Nepal: they found the wreckage of a plane with 22 people missing near the Himalayas

A spokesman for the Nepal Army on Monday reported that its rescue teams they found the remains of the plane remained missing near the Himalayas, where 22 people were traveling. So far, no details have been given about the status of the 19 passengers and the 3 crew traveling on the aircraft.

“A rescue team found the wreckage of the plane and shared a photo. Other teams went to the site to get details,” Nepalese army spokesman Narayan Silwal said.

According to the same official, the plane crashed in the Sanosware area, in the Mustang district.

After rescue work was suspended on Sunday due to weather conditions, work resumed on Monday and the remains of the Tara Air aircraft were quickly found.

Throughout Sunday, rescuers surveyed the mountainous region by helicopter and on foot.

The flight to Jomsom flew to Pokhara (mid-west) and then lost contact with air traffic control, said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesman for Kathmandu-based company Tara Air.

The Twin Otter plane, that is carried 19 passengers – including two Germans and four Indians – and 3 crewflew from Pokhara this Sunday at 9.55 local time, but lost contact after 15 minutes.

The last known location of the plane was near Ghorepani, a town located 2,874 meters above sea level, according to air authorities.

Before the remains were found, Pokhara airport spokesman Dav Raj Subedi told the AFP news agency that rescue teams had changed the search area on Monday morning.

“Search operations have resumed … There has been no improvement over time,” he said. Subedi added that they followed GPS and mobile and satellite signals to find the wreckage of the ship.

Nepal, an unsafe flight country

Jomsom is a popular destination for trekkers in the Himalayas, about a 20-minute flight from Pokhara, which is 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu.

Aircraft in Nepal has grown tremendously in recent years, thanks to the high number of tourists, many of whom are mountain enthusiasts.

But it has a Himalayan country a dismal safety record due to poorly trained pilots and aircraft maintenance problems.

The European Union has banned all Nepalese airlines from accessing its airspace for security reasons..

The country also has extremely dangerous trackslocated between snow -capped mountains.

In March 2018, a plane from the Bangladeshi company US-Bangla Airlines crashed near Kathmandu airport and there 51 dead.

The most dramatic accident occurred in 1992, when 167 people died when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu airport.

Two months earlier, a Thai Airways plane crashed in the same area and 113 people died.

With information from the AFP

DB