Nepal Plane Crash: 21 Bodies Recovered, Accident Due To Inclement Weather

Nepal Plane Crash: The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane crashed in the village of Kowang in Mustang district, hours after it went missing on Sunday morning.

Armed Police Force, Rescue team carry the bodies of the passengers from the crash site of Tara Air in Nepal (Source: Getty)

New Delhi: Rescuers on Monday pulled out 21 bodies from the wreckage of the Tara Airlines plane that crashed in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district with 22 people on board, including four Indians, said a statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane crashed in the village of Kowang in Mustang district, hours after it went missing on Sunday morning. The bodies are yet to be identified. At the same time, Phanindra Mani Pokharel, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Nepal have expressed doubts that all the passengers on board have died.

A team led by Police Inspector Raj Kumar Tamang reached the accident spot. Officials said the bodies of the passengers are yet to be identified. According to a Nepalese army spokesman, a team of 15 soldiers has been rushed to the accident site to retrieve the bodies.

One individual was all the while missing, said the statement.

It said that 10 bodies were brought to Kathmandu, while 11 bodies were taken to the headquarters from where the rescue operation is being coordinated.

The search and rescue teams are scouring the area for the remaining person, said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson for Tara Air.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba have mourned the demise of team individuals and travelers in the fatal accident.

The government has framed a five-part commission of request headed by senior aeronautical specialist Ratish Chandra Lal Suman to figure out the reason for the Tara Air plane accident.

A primer examination uncovered that the airplane had collided with the mountains after it steered to the right, rather than going to the left because of harsh weather conditions, CAAN Director-General Pradeep Adhikari said during a meeting of the International Committee of the Parliament on Monday.

Prior to the early evening, the CAAN in an explanation said that the plane had crashed at Thasang-2 in the Mustang region at the level of 14,500 feet.

Inda Singh, who was headed to clear a blocked road, figured out that the plane had crashed. He said the plane was found in a totally damaged condition, MyRepublica paper detailed.

"All the passengers on the aircraft are found dead," he was quoted as saying by the paper. "The dead bodies are intact and the faces of all victims are recognisable."

According to the Nepalese Army, the search operation has been resumed in the morning to find the Tara Airplane. The search operation was called off after snowfall in the Mustang district on Sunday.

According to the information given by the local people to the Nepal Army, the Tara Air plane crashed at the mouth of the Lamche river due to a landslide in Manapati Himal. 4 Indians, 3 foreigners and 13 Nepalese nationals were on board this 19-seater aircraft. According to sources, the army officials saw smoke rising from afar, following which the aircraft could be traced.

(With PTI inputs)