UP man killed in Nepal plane crash had gone to pay obeisance to Lord Pashupatinath after son's birth

Five Indians were killed after a Yeti Airlines' aircraft with 72 people onboard crashed in Nepal's resort city of Pokhara.

New Delhi: A man from Uttar Pradesh, who was among the five Indians killed in a plane crash in Nepal on Sunday, had gone to pay obeisance at the famous Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a son was fulfilled. 

32-year-old Sonu Jaiswal, a liquor store owner in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district, has two daughters and had taken a vow to visit the Pashupatinath Temple if he had a son, his relative and Chak Jainab village head Vijay Jaiswal told news agency PTI.

"Sonu, along with his three friends, had gone to Nepal on January 10. His main purpose was to pay obeisance to Lord Pashupatinath as his wish to have a son, now six months old, has been fulfilled. But fate had something else in store for him," Vijay Jaiswal said.

His friends were identified as Abhishek Kushwaha, 26, Vishal Sharma, 27, and Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 25.

Four Indians killed in Nepal plane crash were going for paragliding in Pokhara

According to villagers, the four friends killed in the Nepal plane crash were to return to Ghazipur on Tuesday after paragliding in the popular tourist hub of Pokhara.

While Abhishek Kushwaha belonged to Dharwa in the Nonhara area, Vishal Sharma was from Alawalpur Chatti village in the Badesar area, and Anil Kumar Rajbhar was a resident of Chak Jainab.

नेपाल में हुई विमान दुर्घटना अत्यंत दुःखद है। इसमें गाजीपुर नागरिकों समेत काल-कवलित हुए सभी लोगों के प्रति विनम्र श्रद्धांजलि!

मेरी संवेदनाएं शोकाकुल परिजनों के साथ हैं। @UPGovt @CMOfficeUP pic.twitter.com/2TpPXPXidO — DM_Ghazipur (@AdminGhazipur) January 16, 2023

According to locals, Sharma worked as a computer operator in a two-wheeler showroom, Kushwaha was in the computer business and Rajbhar operated a "Jan Sewa Kendra" (public service centre).

Nepal plane crash: Rescue workers retrieve 69 bodies

Meanwhile, rescue workers have retrieved 69 bodies from the accident site in Nepal's Pokhara.

Officials said 41 bodies out of 69 recovered so far have been identified, while three missing persons are believed to be dead and rescuers will resume their operation on Tuesday to retrieve the bodies.

The Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport minutes before landing.

According to reports, the ill-fated aircraft was 15 years old and equipped with an 'old transponder with unreliable data'.

Pokhara plane crash is Nepal's third worst tragedy 

According to Nepal's civil aviation body, 914 people have died in air crashes in the country since the first disaster was recorded in August 1955. 

The tragedy in Pokhara on Sunday is the 104th crash in Nepali skies and the third biggest in terms of casualties.

The only incidents in which more people were killed took place in July and September 1992. Those crashes involved aircraft of Thai Airways and Pakistan International Airlines and left 113 and 167 people dead, respectively.

The last major air accident in Nepal happened on May 29 when all 22 people onboard, including four members of an Indian family, were killed as a Tara Air plane crashed in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district.

Nepal has had a fraught record of aviation accidents, partly due to its sudden weather changes and airstrips located in hard-to-access rocky terrains.