15th January, 2023
At least, 68 people have been killed as a plane crashed in Nepal on Sunday morning. About 72 people were said to be on board when the plane crashed.
It was the worst air crash in the small nation in 30 years.
The domestic flight crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said, in the worst air crash in three decades in the small Himalayan nation.
Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside where the Yeti Airlines flight, carrying 72 people from the capital Kathmandu, went down, Reuters report.
Local TV showed rescue workers scrambling around broken sections of the aircraft. Some of the ground near the crash site was scorched, with licks of flames visible.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
“I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of Yeti Airlines ANC ATR 72 which was flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers,” he posted on Twitter.
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue.”
Aljazeera monitored a local television showing thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
An eyewitness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began to attempt a landing before falling nose-first towards its left and then crashing into the gorge.