All 6 aboard helicopter carrying Mexican tourists are killed in a crash near Mount Everest in Nepal
Kathmandu (AP): All six people on board a helicopter carrying Mexican tourists were killed when it crashed Tuesday near Mount Everest in Nepal, authorities said.
The helicopter crashed in the Lamajura area and all the bodies were recovered, said Basanta Bhattarai, the chief government administrator in the area.
The five tourists were Mexican nationals and the pilot was Nepalese, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. The Mexicans included two men and three women.
Federico Salas, Mexico's ambassador to India, told N+, part of Mexico's Televisa network, that the five Mexican victims were part of the same family.
Mexico's National Cancer Institute said via Twitter that one of those killed was Dr. Abril Sifuentes Gonz lez, a resident in internal medicine there. A week earlier, Sifuentes posted a photo of herself standing in front of India's Taj Mahal on Instagram.
Two rescue helicopters were used to fly the bodies out of the crash site and then to the capital, Kathmandu. Doctors were expected to perform an autopsy before the bodies are handed over to relatives, or in case of foreigners, to embassy officials.
The aircraft was returning to Kathmandu on Tuesday morning after bringing the tourists on a sightseeing trip to the world's highest peak.
It wasn't clear what caused the crash. Weather conditions had caused the helicopter's planned flight route to be changed, airport official Sagar Kadel said.
It is common for flights to be delayed and routes changed during the monsoon season and heavy rains.
The tourist and mountaineering season ended in May with the onset of the rainy season and tourist flights to the mountains are less common this time of year as visibility is poor and weather conditions become unpredictable.
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Muslim man assaulted for offering namaz on vacant land in front of temple in Uttarakhand
Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) (PTI): An elderly Muslim man was allegedly assaulted by some people and forced to chant religious slogans after he offered namaz on a vacant land in front of a temple here, police said on Tuesday.
A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, the accused are seen thrashing the man with sticks and hurling abuses at him.
The man, Shahid, a resident of the Resham Bari area, offered namaz during the ongoing month of Ramzan in front of the Atriya Temple in Jagatpura.
Shahid said he has been working near the temple for several days and claimed that the land where he offered namaz is quite far from the temple.
After learning about the incident, members of the Muslim community accompanied Shahid to the local police station and filed a complaint.
They claimed that one of the accused has been convicted in a murder case and currently out on parole.
Temple manager Arvind Sharma said activities associated with any other religion will not be tolerated on the temple land, even if a case is filed against him.
Police reached the spot and appealed to both communities to maintain peace.
Shahid is undergoing a medical examination. Further legal action will be taken based on the complaint, police said.
Municipal Councillor Parvez Qureshi termed the incident unacceptable.
"This matter is extremely serious. Assaulting a person is unacceptable. If anyone had any objection (to namaz being offered), the administration should have been informed. We demand an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future," he said.
Congress leader Sofia Naz said the incident is detrimental to social harmony.
"Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the state government. Violence and forced chanting of slogans in the name of religion are against the spirit of the Constitution. The administration should take immediate action and provide justice to the victim," Naz said.
