AMN / WEB DESK
Rescuers in Nepal have so far recovered 20 bodies from the crash site of the small plane carrying 22 people. The search is ongoing for the remaining passengers.
The wreckage of the plane, operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air, was recovered in Mustang district in northern Nepal. The passenger plane was on a 20-minute flight when it lost contact with Air Traffic Control five minutes before it was due to land.
According to the reports, four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis were on board the plane. Search operations were hampered by bad weather and mountainous terrain and could only resume on this morning.
Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesperson for Tara Air said : “The search and rescue teams are scouring the area for the remaining two bodies. There are around 100 people at the crash site including officials of the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, mountaineering rescue officials and locals searching for the remaining bodies.”
Pieces of the wreckage of the passenger plane that crashed on Sunday morning were found in Sano Sware Bhir of Thasang in Mustang district in northwestern Nepal, after nearly 20 hours since the plane went missing, early on Monday morning.
The bodies have been scattered over a 100-metre radius from the main impact point.
The airline and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on Monday afternoon released the names of the deceased.
The Twin Otter aircraft of Tara Air with 22 people on board, including three members of the crew, had taken off at 9:55am from Pokhara on Sunday morning to Jomsom. It, however, lost contact with the air traffic controller about 12 minutes later at 10:07am, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Officials say the plane slammed into a mountain at 14,500 feet.
“The impact had blown the bodies all over the hill,” said Bartaula, the spokesperson of the airline.
Search and rescue teams were deployed immediately after the plane lost contact, but bad weather hampered operations.