(CMR) At least 68 people were killed Sunday when an aircraft with 72 aboard went down in central Nepal. This is the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.
Reports are that four crew members and 68 passengers were on board the ATR 72 plane operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines when it crashed near the city of Pokhara. Thirty-seven were men, 25 were women, three were children, and three were infants, according to CNN.
CNN also reported that Search efforts were called off after dark Sunday and will resume Monday morning. Hundreds of first responders had been still working to locate the remaining four individuals before then, Bhandar said.
The civil aviation authority said that 53 of the passengers and all four crew members were Nepali. Fifteen foreign nationals were also on the plane: five were Indian, four were Russian, and two were Korean. The rest were individual citizens of Australia, Argentina, France, and Ireland.
The aircraft had been flying from the capital of Kathmandu to Pokhara, the country’s second-most populous city, located some 129 kilometers (80 miles) west of Kathmandu.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was “deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident.”
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government, and the general public to start an effective rescue,” Dahal said on Twitter.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he was “deeply grieved” to hear about the crash and that his thoughts were “with the affected families.”
Nepal’s Yeti Airlines said it was canceling all regular flights on Monday, January 16, in mourning for the crash victims.
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