Who was Elena Banduro, the Russian travel blogger who died in Nepal plane crash?

Sunday's crash is Nepal's deadliest since 1992 when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.

Pokhra: A scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Yeti Airlines connected Kathmandu with Pokhara in Nepal crashed. The route's operating aircraft, an ATR 72 operated by Yeti Airlines, crashed while attempting to land in Pokhara on January 15, 2023, killing all 72 people on board. It is one of the most fatal ATR 72 accident ever. A shocking mobile video captured the final seconds befwore the plane crashed into a canyon about 1.6 kilometres (miles) from the new airport. The ATR-72 was developed in the late 1980s as a joint venture between France and Italy. Despite being involved in a number of fatal incidents over the years, many of which were caused by icing problems, the ATR-72  had a pretty solid track record.

There were 72 passengers on board, including four crew members. 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, one each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia, and France were among the passengers.

Who was Elena Banduro? 

One of the Russians in the Nepal crash was Elena Banduro a 33 year old vlogger and traveller. As luck would have it, Elena had uploaded a picture of herself to Instagram with the caption, "GO TO NEPAL!" just moments prior to the collision. Condolence posts flooded Elena's social media after she passed away. She was known for jolly nature and was described as "the brightest, kindest soul."
Elena's sister revealed that the Elena was expecting a child and was on her way to Nepal to visit her partner at the time of her death. According to her Facebook bio she was the manager of social media marketing at a business with headquarters in Russia.

She had previously worked in public relations for a different business, posting updates about her travels on social media. Elena had visited the Caucasus Nature Reserve in October 2022, a Russian nature preserve including a rugged region of the Northwest Caucasus mountains. She was on another adventurous trip to Nepal. 

A day before the catastrophe, she last spoke to her sister. Elena told Elena's sister Ksenia about boarding the Yeti jet, according to Ksenia. "She wrote to me at 4:59 a.m. (Moscow time), 'Good morning, in Nepal, 7.44 a.m. I head to the airport because I have a flight to Pokhara right now.

She continued by saying that Elena had only recently told her family about her pregnancy. Her final Instagram post was published on January 5. The caption, which is translated from Russian, reads, "Turn up the sound."

She was a frequent traveller and used to post photos and videos on Instagram from her trips to different places including the Crimea, Kazakhstan, the Iturup island, and Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka.