POKHARA, Jan 16: The bodies of 68 passengers who were on board the plane of Yeti Airlines that crashed on Sunday morning in Pokhara have been found. Only 36 of them have been identified while four passengers are still missing according to the police.
The bodies of all the deceased passengers are now kept at the Western Regional Hospital. Dr Khem Adhikari of the hospital informed Republica that the bodies of 36 people have been identified. The body of pilot Kamal KC has been identified. Similarly, the body of airhostess Srijana Hungchung has also been identified.
Pokhara airport handling 4,000 passengers daily
There were 72 people on board, including 68 passengers and four crew members. According to Kaski Police Spokesperson Police Inspector Gyan Bahadur Khadka, four passengers of the aircraft are still missing. They are being searched for, he said. He said that since some expert doctors have not arrived from Kathmandu, the post-mortem of the identified passengers could not be started.
He said that a five-member post-mortem team has been formed - three from Pokhara and two from Kathmandu. However, he said that the post-mortem could not be started due to the delay in the arrival of the doctors from Kathmandu. He said that the team engaged in rescue and search has been searching for the remaining bodies in the gorge with the help of a rope.
ATR72-500 series plane of 9N-ANC call sign of Yeti Airlines, which flew from Kathmandu to Pokhara at 10:33 am on Sunday, was supposed to land at Pokhara International Airport at 10:58 am. However, while making final preparations for landing, the aircraft suddenly crashed into the gorge of Seti River near Miteri bridge between Pokhara Metropolitan City-7 and 15.
-1200x560_20230115125633.jpg)
