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Nepal panel begins tourist plane crash probe
Kathmandu, Aug 24: Nepali experts began searching on Friday for clues to the cause of a plane crash in which 18 people, including 15 foreigners returning from a trek in the Himalayas, were killed.
Kathmandu, Aug 24: Nepali experts began searching on Friday for clues to the cause of a plane crash in which 18 people, including 15 foreigners returning from a trek in the Himalayas, were killed.
The Shangri-la Air Twin Otter carrying 13 Germans, three Nepali crew, a Briton and an American crashed on Thursday just minutes before it was due to land in the city of Pokhara. Officials said they did not know what caused the accident. Nanda Bahadur Subedi, who heads a seven-member investigation panel, said technical experts had visited the crash site at Kristi Nachne Chour, near Pokhara in west Nepal, to examine the debris.
"They have already reached the site and are collecting samples for a detailed investigation," Subedi told Reuters.
The crash was the fourth involving commercial airlines in the Himalayan kingdom in three years.
Officials said the bodies had been flown to the capital, Kathmandu, on Thursday. An airline official said the three Nepali victims had been identified and their bodies handed to their families but authorities were finding it difficult identifying the foreigners.
"The bodies have been badly disfigured and it will take some time to identify them," Shangri-la senior executive Kishor Silwal told Reuters.
He said the bodies of the foreign victims had been kept at a hospital in the Nepali capital for a postmortem and arrangements were being made with embassies for their identification.
Nepal is home to several of the world's tallest mountains including Mount Everest, and has long been a magnet for climbers and trekkers.
But the latest accident is likely to deal another blow to its tourism industry, already hurt by the massacre of King Birendra and most members of his family a year ago, a bloody Maoist insurgency and the fallout of the September 11 attacks on the United States. "We will try to find out the cause of the crash and suggest measures aimed at avoiding future disasters," Subedi said.
The crash was the 48th since air services started in the country more than four decades ago, the Kantipur newspaper said.
The daily said 484 people had been killed in those crashes.
More than a dozen private airlines operate in the landlocked kingdom that has no proper road network. Bureau Report
The Shangri-la Air Twin Otter carrying 13 Germans, three Nepali crew, a Briton and an American crashed on Thursday just minutes before it was due to land in the city of Pokhara. Officials said they did not know what caused the accident. Nanda Bahadur Subedi, who heads a seven-member investigation panel, said technical experts had visited the crash site at Kristi Nachne Chour, near Pokhara in west Nepal, to examine the debris.
"They have already reached the site and are collecting samples for a detailed investigation," Subedi told Reuters.
The crash was the fourth involving commercial airlines in the Himalayan kingdom in three years.
Officials said the bodies had been flown to the capital, Kathmandu, on Thursday. An airline official said the three Nepali victims had been identified and their bodies handed to their families but authorities were finding it difficult identifying the foreigners.
"The bodies have been badly disfigured and it will take some time to identify them," Shangri-la senior executive Kishor Silwal told Reuters.
He said the bodies of the foreign victims had been kept at a hospital in the Nepali capital for a postmortem and arrangements were being made with embassies for their identification.
Nepal is home to several of the world's tallest mountains including Mount Everest, and has long been a magnet for climbers and trekkers.
But the latest accident is likely to deal another blow to its tourism industry, already hurt by the massacre of King Birendra and most members of his family a year ago, a bloody Maoist insurgency and the fallout of the September 11 attacks on the United States. "We will try to find out the cause of the crash and suggest measures aimed at avoiding future disasters," Subedi said.
The crash was the 48th since air services started in the country more than four decades ago, the Kantipur newspaper said.
The daily said 484 people had been killed in those crashes.
More than a dozen private airlines operate in the landlocked kingdom that has no proper road network. Bureau Report