Nepal’s government on Monday recovered the bodies of one of the other 22 people aboard a plane that crashed into a Himalayan mountain on Sunday, authorities said, and the government formed a commission to investigate the incident.
Two Germans, 4 Indians and 16 Nepalese were aboard the De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter plane that crashed 15 minutes after taking off from the tourist from the town of Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on Sunday morning. .
“There is very little to locate the survivors,” said Deo Chandra Lal Karna, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Nepalese infantrymen and rescuers had recovered 20 bodies from the wreckage, scattered on a steep slope at an altitude of about 14,500 feet. They were seeking to recover the frame they had seen, authorities said.
The government said it had set up a five-member panel for the cause of fate’s turnaround and proposed preventive measures for the future.
Complicated terrain and bad weather hampered the study teams. A symbol published in Nepalese media showed uniformed rescuers pulling a frame from the wreckage and ropes to hoist on a stretcher and on a steep grassy hill.
“There is a very thick cloud in the area,” Netra Prasad Sharma, the most sensible official in the Mustang district, where the crash occurred, told Reuters by phone.
In Kathmandu, the capital, relatives of the victims were waiting for them to bring the bodies from the crash site.
“I’m waiting for my son’s body,” Maniram Pokhrel told Reuters, his voice muffled. His son Utsav Pokhrel, 25, the co-pilot.
Operated through the private company Tara Air, the plane crashed on cloudy days and the debris was only detected on Monday morning by Nepal’s military.
The plane was heading to Jomsom, a popular tourist and pilgrimage site located about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Pokhara, a 20-minute flight.
But the plane lost contact with the Pokhara tower five minutes before landing, airline officials said.
The accident is near the Nepal-China border, in a domain where Mount Dhaulagiri is located, the seventh highest peak in the world at 8,167 meters (26,795 feet).
Flightradar24 said the plane first flew 43 years ago.
Air injuries are not unusual in Nepal, home to 8 of the world’s 14 highest mountains, in addition to Everest, as weather can replace and create harmful conditions.
In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed upon landing and caught fire, killing 51 of the other 71 people on board.