The team headed by Pema Letho, Director of SAARC Division under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bhutan, will take the bodies of all the Bhutanese nationals back to Thimpu once the required procedures, including postmortems, are completed.[break]
"It (taking the bodies to Thimpu) depends on how quickly all the procedures are completed," Sonam Tshong, member of the Bhutanese team, said. "We are grateful to the Nepal government for completing the search operation so quickly, within less than 24 hours."
The Bhutan government has arranged a special aircraft for the relatives of the dead Bhutanese nationals who are also coming here. The plane will land in Kathmandu on Saturday. However, they may not be able to take the bodies of their loved ones back the same day, as the postmortems are likely to last longer.
The Bhutan government has announced that it will arrange free accommodation for them during their stay in Kathmandu.
According to Dr Harihar Wosti, forensic expert at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), where the postmortems are being carried out, only the postmortems of the three crew members will be over by Friday morning. "We need some more time to complete postmortems on all the bodies," Dr Wosti said.
According to sources, there were complaints about mixing up of body parts during postmortems after the Agni Air crash. Doctors are being cautious to avoid such complaints this time.
The Bhutanese nationals were on a pilgrimage to Haleshi Mahadev, known as Draphu Maratika among Buddhists. Legend has it that Guru Padmasambhav, who transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century, attained immortality in a cave which later became famous as Draphu Maratika.
All the Tara Air passengers had hidden their Bhutanese identities and used fake Nepali names in connivance with Travel Lights, which arranged the charter flight for the Bhutanese pilgrims, apparently to pay less money.
One Bhutanese alive
The Bhutanese officials on Thursday confirmed the deaths of only 17 Bhutanese nationals, contrary to earlier news reports that 18 out of the 22 persons on board -- not counting the three-member crew and a passenger carrying an American passport -- were from Bhutan.
However, at a press conference held in Thimpu Thursday, Bhutanese officials said only 17 Bhutanese nationals were on board. Although all 18 Bhutanese passengers were supposed to board the plane, one passenger, Kinley Namgyal, cancelled his flight at the last moment.
Tan Dee Pem, a Bhutanese journalist attending the press meet, quoted Gyalpoi Zimpoen Penjor of the secretariat of the king of Bhutan, as saying, "Kinley is still alive in Nepal. Someone else might have boarded the plane in his place." However, Pejor did not disclose any further information about Kinley.
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