No Likelihood Of Locating Survivors After Nepal Plane Crash, Official States

With expectations of any survival now “nil,” according to officials, Nepali rescue teams searched a debris-strewn gully on Monday for more dead from the twisted wreckage of a plane with 72 passengers on board. In the deadliest aviation accident to affect Nepal since 1992, a Yeti Airlines ATR 72 crashed onto a cliff, broke apart, and caught fire as it neared the capital city of Pokhara on Sunday morning.

Although the cause was unknown, a video posted on social media, which AFP partner ESN confirmed, showed the twin-propeller plane banking dramatically to the left as it neared Pokhara airport. Then there was a thunderous explosion. Monday was celebrated as a day of mourning for the deceased in Nepal, a country with a dismal track record for aviation safety. Recovery attempts started on Monday after soldiers worked through the night to collect bodies from the ravine, which is 1,000 feet deep and 300 meters deep.

The airliner’s wreckage, which included the white fuselage and the crumpled remains of passenger seats, was all over the disaster site. After the disaster, rescue personnel hastened to the scene and made efforts to put out the blazing fires that had poured dense black smoke into the sky. According to Yeti spokeswoman Sudarshan Bartaula, there were 15 foreign passengers on board, including one traveler from Argentina, one from Australia, four from France, five from India, and four each from Russia, South Korea, Australia, and Ireland.