Tourist flight crashes in Nepal, killing 19 aboard
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - September 25, 2011
Ten Indians, two Americans and one Japanese were among the
victims, Tourism Secretary Ganeshraj Joshi said.
The turboprop plane belonging to Buddha Air was also carrying
three Nepalese passengers and three crew members when it crashed in
Bisankunarayan village, just a few miles (kilometers) south of the
capital, Katmandu.
A witness, Haribol Poudel, told Avenues Television that the
plane hit the roof of a house in the village and broke into several
pieces. No casualties were reported on the ground.
Poudel said it was foggy and visibility was very low in the
mountainous area.
Rewant Kuwar, an official at Katmandu's international airport
rescue office, said 18 bodies were pulled out of the plane's
wreckage, and another victim died after being rushed to a hospital.
The two Americans were identified as Andrew Wade and Natalie
Neilan, while the Japanese citizen was Toshinori Uejima. Their
hometowns and other details were not immediately known.
The Beechcraft 1900D plane - manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft,
now known as Hawker Beechcraft - had taken the passengers to view
Mount Everest and other peaks on a one-hour "mountain flight" and
was returning to Katmandu.
The government ordered an investigation into the crash.
The weather on Sunday morning was foggy and the visibility was
poor around Katmandu, according to meteorologist Rajendra Shrestha.
The surrounding mountains were enveloped in fog and it was raining
at the time of the crash.
The bodies were flown by army helicopter to Katmandu airport and
transported to the Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital for
post-mortems.
Relatives of the Nepalese victims waited outside the hospital to
claim the bodies, but were told by police that they would only be
able to do so on Monday. Most Nepalese believe that people have to
be cremated within a day of their deaths.
Officials from the Indian and U.S. embassies visited the
hospital but did not speak to media.
