The situation emerged after it became known that Tara Air issued the tickets in names other than those of the persons onboard the ill-fated plane. Under insurance law, only family members of persons bearing the names in the tickets issued can legitimately claim insurance.[break]
Tara Air, whose Twin Otter (9N-AFX DHC-6/300) met with the accident on Wednesday, had said the aircraft was carrying almost entirely Nepali passengers. However, it emerged on Thursday that they were not Nepalis but Bhutanese. Insurance experts said the crash has already made the airline liable to compensate the passengers´ families.
“But do the tickets -- the only tangible proof for making insurance claims -- actually belong to those who were killed? This has made the whole affair problematical,” said Khem Prasad Baral, an insurance expert and advisor at Nepal Insurance Company.
“Legally speaking, family members of the deceased cannot now claim compensation,” he told Republica. Domestic airlines, going by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) rules, pledge insurance cover of up to US$ 20,000 per passenger.
To make the claims, the airline needs to forward the names of passengers on board and family members of the deceased need to submit death certificates and certificates of kinship with the deceased issued by the District Administration Office (DAO). For foreign passengers, the rules are different.
Bodies flown to Kathmandu
All 22 bodies of the victims, including three crew members, were brought to Kathmandu on Thursday afternoon. “The bodies were brought to the Tribhuvan International Airport at 1:47 in the afternoon on RAN-53, MI8 chopper of the Nepal Army on initiation of Tara Air,” a press statement issued by CAAN read. The CAAN statement said the plane crashed around 57.7 nautical miles (approx. 107 kilometers) east of Kathmandu.
Meanwhile, our Udayapur correspondent Maheshwar Chamling quoted locals as saying that the wreckage of the plane were scattered as far as 300 meters.
Police arrest travel agent
Meanwhile, General Manager of Travels Light Pvt Ltd Kamala Gurung has been arrested for flying Bhutanese as Nepali nationals. The Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu has accused Gurung of illegally booking air tickets. Police arrested Gurung from Travel Light´s office at New Plaza.
Chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu SP Ramesh Kharel said she has been arrested for evading tax by flying Bhutani nationals as Nepalis. “She will be handed over to the Department of Revenue Investigation on Friday for further investigations,” Kharel added.
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