New Delhi: A video shot by an Indan with a phone camera that purports to show the Yeti Airline plane just before it crashed in Pokhara, Nepal, has gone viral on Sunday. According to a local, five Indians believed to have died in the plane crash planned to take part in paragliding in Pokhara, a popular tourist destination.
Officials reported that a Yeti Airlines passenger plane carrying 72 people, including five Indians, collided with a river gorge while landing at the newly opened airport in Pokhara, a resort city in central Nepal, on Sunday, killing at least 68 people.
A Yeti Airlines official stated that the five Indians were Abhisekh Kushwaha, 25, Bishal Sharma, 22, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 27, Sonu Jaiswal, 35, and Sanjaya Jaiswal.
Four of the five Indians had just arrived in Kathmandu on Friday from India.
“All the four were planning to enjoy paragliding in the lake city and tourist hub Pokhara,” recalled Ajay Kumar Shah, a resident of Sarlahi district in southern Nepal, reported news agency PTI.
“We came together from India in the same vehicle, he said as quoted by PTI.
“They stayed in Gaushala near Pashupatinath Temple and then in Hotel Discovery Inn in Thamel, before departing to Pokhara,” he said.
Also Read: Nepal Plane Crash: 68 Confirmed Dead In Flight Tragedy. What We Know So Far.
He added that they planned to return to India via Gorakhpur from Pokhara.
According to Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula, there is currently no information regarding any survivors.
Aryaka Akhauri, District Magistrate of Ghazipur, told PTI over the phone that four of the five Indian nationals who died belonged to the district of Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur.
"The families have been contacted. Our Sub Divisional Magistrate and other officials are meeting them," she said.
"We are also in touch with the embassy. The rescue operation is going on there. It has stopped now at night. It will resume tomorrow. We will do needful after the recovery of the bodies," she added.
The rescue and search operation will resume on Monday to locate the remaining bodies trapped in a deep river gorge surrounded by steep cliffs after it was suspended on Sunday.
(With PTI Inputs)