Nepal plane crash: 18 killed, pilot survives after Saurya Airlines flight catches fire
Kathmandu (PTI): A private airlines' Pokhara-bound plane crashed during takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) here, killing 18 of the 19 people on board.
The pilot of the Saurya Airlines plane survived the crash and was taken to hospital, officials said. The crash took place when the aircraft veered off the runway and burst into flames.
Footage from the spot showed dramatic scenes of the plane speeding down the runway before a fire broke out with high flames and thick black smoke billowing from the wreckage.
At least 19 people, including aircrew, were aboard the private Saurya Airlines plane which met with the accident at around 11 am, sources said.
The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that 18 bodies have been recovered from the crash site.
“The accident occurred after the Pokhara-bound flight suffered a runway excursion during takeoff,” said TIA Spokesperson Subash Jha.
The Himalayan Times newspaper reported that the plane was only carrying technical staff of the airline.”There were no passengers on board but the plane was carrying few technical staff,” Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at the TIA, said.
The pilot of the aircraft has been taken to a hospital, a security official deployed at the airport told PTI without giving further details.
A fire that broke out from the aircraft has been put off, he added. Police and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations at the accident site.
Authorities have shut down the TIA following the plane crash, the MyRepublica news portal reported. Dozens of international and domestic flights have been affected due to the airport closure.
नेपाल के काठमांडू में बड़ा विमान हादसा। नेपाल की राजधानी काठमांडू में एक विमान दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो गया। हादसे के वक्त विमान में 19 लोग सवार थे। सूर्या एयरलाइंस का विमान था। 5 शव बरामद। #Nepal #PlaneCrash pic.twitter.com/tOqGdPnrJF
— Naval Kant Sinha | नवल कान्त सिन्हा (@navalkant) July 24, 2024
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Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
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