Plane with 72 people on board crashes in Nepal

“We don’t currently know if there are any survivors,” a Yeti Airlines spokesperson said.

A control tower at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 10, 2015. (NURPHOTO)

A plane with 72 people on board crashed in Nepal on Sunday January 15. The announcement was made by a local official and a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines. “There are 68 passengers on board and four crew members. Help is on the way, we do not currently know if there are any survivors,” Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP.

The plane crashed between the old and new Pokhara airport in central Nepal. “Rescue services have already arrived on the spot and are trying to put out the fire,” added local official Gurudutta Dhakal. The latter clarified that they are “focused first on extinguishing the fire and on rescuing the passengers”.

A general lack of security

Nepal’s airline industry has boomed in recent years, ferrying goods and people to hard-to-reach areas, as well as trekkers and foreign mountaineers. But it suffered from a lack of safety due to insufficient training and maintenance.

The European Union has banned all Nepalese carriers from accessing its airspace for security reasons. In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepalese company Tara Air died when the aircraft crashed.