Team News Riveting
Pokhara, January 15
A Jeti Airlines passenger plane crashed on Sunday while flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara in Nepal with 72 people on board including five Indians.
The hope of any survivor is bleak even as 68 bodies have been recovered so far from the site near newly inaugurated Pokhara airport. Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said that Yeti Airlines flight 9N-ANC ATR-72 took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am and crashed near Pokhara airport around 11 am.
The international airport at Pokhara where it was supposed to land was inaugurated only 15 days ago. This airport was displayed as a model of friendship between China and Nepal. The airport where the accident happened was inaugurated by Prime Minister Pushpa Dhal Prachanda on January 1.
It is a regional airport developed by China under the Belt and Road Initiative. China has given a big loan to Nepal for the project. Prachanda dedicated it saying that regional connectivity will be strengthened with the help of this airport.
Sources said the airport was not fully prepared when inaugurated. Since China is involved in this project, India is keeping a close eye on the new airport. On the opening day Buddha Airways wanted to operate a chartered flight between Pokhara and Varanasi. But the Indian government did not grant permission.
Among the dead is a senior journalist from Nepal. According to sources, journalist Tribhuvan Paudel died in a Yeti Airlines plane crash this morning. Paudel was the Vice President of Press Center Nepal and a member of the Central Committee of the Nepali Journalist Association (FNJ).
Following the Yeti Airlines aircraft crash, the Pokhara International Airport has been closed for today for all incoming and outgoing flights.
