The bodies of 21 people aboard a plane that crashed into a Himalayan mountain in Nepal have been recovered, authorities said on Monday.
The Tara Air Twin Otter turboprop crashed on Sunday during a scheduled 20-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom after losing contact with an airport tower amid a cloudy sky as it flew into a remote mountainous area of river gorges. and steep peaks.
The video showed rescuers retrieving some of the bodies from the crash site on a mountain in Nepal’s Mustang district.
Some of the wreckage of the passenger plane was swaying on the edge of a mountain top as authorities tried to assess the damage and locate the victims, the images show.
The plane was carrying 19 passengers and 3 crew members when it lost contact with an airport tower just minutes after the flight. Four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalese were on board, Reuters reported.
Bad weather on Monday hampered the rescue operation, which was led by the Nepalese army.
“There is very little chance of finding survivors,” said Nepal Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Deo Chandra.
The bodies of 21 people have been recovered after a Tara Air plane crashed in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal on May 29, 2022. Photo by MAN BAHADUR BASYAL / Nepal Police / AFP via Getty Images L ‘ The plane was carrying 19 passengers and 3 crew members for the scheduled 20-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, Nepal. Captain of Fishtail Air Pvt Ltd. Nikalas Fjellgren / Handout via REUTERS Rescue workers crossing the wreckage of the plane at the crash site on May 30, 2022. Nepal Police / AFP via Getty Images
Authorities were searching for the person missing from the plane on Monday, Kathmandu airport spokesman Tek Nat Situala said.
The wreckage of the plane was scattered along a steep slope at an altitude of approximately 14,500 feet. Nepalese authorities have set up a five-member group to determine what caused the fatal crash, Reuters reported.
“There is a very busy cloud in the area,” said Netra Prasad Sharma, a senior bureaucrat in the Mustang district.
According to the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, there is little chance of finding survivors of the crash. Photo by BISHAL MAGAR / AFP via Getty Images. Relatives of Tara Air passengers mourn at Pokhara airport on May 30, 2022. Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP via Getty Images
A relative of the plane’s co-pilot, Utsav Pokhrel, 25, said he was among the dead.
“I’m waiting for my son’s body,” Maniram Pokhrel told Reuters.
The search for the plane was suspended on Sunday night amid bad weather and darkness, Nepalese authorities said.
With post cables