The bodies of 22 people who lost their lives in the Tara Air plane crash in Thasang Rural Municipality-2 in Mustang district on Sunday have been found.
Mustang Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Kumar Dani said that an attempt was being made to retrieve the body and search for the missing person is underway. “On Monday, 10 bodies have been airlifted to Kathmandu by a Nepal Army helicopter,” he said.
The Tara Air’s 9N-AET plane carrying 22 persons, 3 crew members and 19 passengers, from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 am had lost contact ion 10:07 am on Sunday. The plane was only found on Monday morning, 19 hours after it went missing.
Chief District Officer of Mustang, Netra Prasad Sharma informed that the bodies of all the passengers were found. According to him, the bodies of 10 people have been sent to Kathmandu on Monday while the rest have been shifted to Kowang.
The rescue personnel along with the body and important items found at the accident site have been brought to Kowang, said Sharma.
Preparations have been made to send the bodies of 12 people brought g to Kathmandu by a Nepal Army helicopter.
The geographical difficulties, fog, and rain, has made it difficult to collect the bodies and belongings from 4,200-meter-highhill where the plane was found.
It takes four hours’ trek to reach the accident site from Kowang, centre of Thasang Rural Municipality. Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, Sherpas and locals reached the spot and collected and rescued the.
Bishal Gharti of Badigad Gaonpalika-7 of Baglung, who had gone to pick up Yarchagumba at around 7 am on Monday, had seen the incident site and informed the police. He had sent a photos and video of the site to the police.
All 22 bodies have been recovered from the incident site in the Tara airplane crash that took place in the Mustang district of Nepal on Sunday morning.
Earlier, on Monday, out of 21 recovered dead bodies, the Nepali Army took 10 bodies to Kathmandu.
“Till now we have recovered 21 dead bodies. 10 bodies are carried back to the base station with the help of a Mi-17 helicopter in Kowang,” said Teknath Situala, the Spokesperson at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu who has been overseeing the rescue and search operation.
“Because of bad weather conditions rescue operation was very difficult, even with 50-60 rescuers has been deployed. Three helicopters are also stationed which have been engaged in retrieving the bodies located by the rescuers from the accident site to the nearby base station,” he added further.
Search operation for the missing body is continuing in the Himalayas which as per the officials are engulfed by a thick blanket of fog reducing the visibility.
“The site of the accident is located at 14,500 feet, making the terrain extremely sloppy. The constant rain and clouds have created difficulties for the rescuers. Despite that, they are doing their very best to retrieve the dead bodies and ferry them to the base station and back to Kathmandu,” an airport official added.
The twin-otter aircraft, which took off from Pokhara for Jomsom in Mustang at 9:55 am (NST) on Sunday, lost contact shortly after takeoff and was later found at Sansure Cliff of Thasang Rural Municipality-2 in Mustang on Monday morning. A total of 22 passengers were on board the plane.
Soon after the incident, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation issued a press statement on Monday regarding the formation of a five-member panel to probe into the tragic crash stating that Senior Aeronautical Engineer Ratish Chandra Lal Suman would lead the team.
A preliminary investigation made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has shown that the crash might have occurred due to bad weather conditions. CAAN Director General Pradeep Adhikari told a meeting of the International Committee of the Parliament on Monday that the Tara Air plane met with the accident because of inclement weather.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba extended his heartfelt tributes to the deceased and expressed condolences to the bereaved families via Twitter.
