NEPAL: Nepali who survived the deadly Mount Everest tourist plane crash dies in hospital later, bringing the death toll to nineteen
Record ID:
382128
NEPAL: Nepali who survived the deadly Mount Everest tourist plane crash dies in hospital later, bringing the death toll to nineteen
- Title: NEPAL: Nepali who survived the deadly Mount Everest tourist plane crash dies in hospital later, bringing the death toll to nineteen
- Date: 26th September 2011
- Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (SEPTEMBER 25, 2011) (REUTERS) CROWD GATHERED AT INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OF VICTIMS AT MORTUARY BUILDING SOBBING MOTHER OF AIR HOSTESS, LED AWAY BY WOMAN WEARING BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED TOP B AND B HOSPITAL, PATAN, LALITPUR, NEPAL (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) UNCLE OF NIRANJAN KARMACHARYA, SAYING: "After we heard that an aircraft from the mountain flight had been in an accident, and, we heard that one passenger, my young nephew, had survived and been taken to hospital for treatment, we came here, but, he died later, as well." (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) AIR CRASH EYEWITNESS, RAJ KUMAR KC, SAYING: "The plane was flying about 200 feet (60 metres), under a very thick mist. Even in those weather conditions, we wondered why it was so low. We saw a pointed thing like a rod on the front of the plane and suddenly we heard a huge blast which made the whole village shake and the plane burst into flames in a massive fireball. Seeing this we ran." ONLOOKERS AT HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) AIR CRASH EYEWITNESS, RAJ KUMAR KC, SAYING: "When we re-approached some policemen had turned up, we asked for help, but they just ignored us. Later we had some help from a plain-clothed policeman." (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) AIR CRASH EYEWITNESS, BIJAYA PATHAK, SAYING: "Three, four uniformed police officers came, then, went away; why, we don't know." WIFE OF NIRANJAN KARMACHARYA, IN BLACK, WALKING AWAY FROM CAMERA, BEING COMFORTED BY WOMAN IN GREEN TOP (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) BUDDHA AIR SENIOR OFFICIAL, SAYING: "This is our first accident in 14 years." KATHMANDU (SEPTEMBER 25, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE, MAHARAJGUNJ MEDICAL CAMPUS BUILDING
- Embargoed: 11th October 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nepal, Nepal
- Country: Nepal
- Topics: Disasters
- Reuters ID: LVA62UOD58EQT9OSKTUWNQN6764A
- Story Text: Witnesses of a tourist plane crash in Nepal described on Sunday (September 25) their efforts to get the only survivor to hospital, but said their attempts to save his life were frustrated by inaction on the part of police officers who had arrived on the scene.
Niranjan Karmacharya was taken to hospital in Patan, Lalitpur after being taken from the wreckage of the Buddha Air flight which had been carrying foreign tourists to view Mount Everest.
His uncle said relatives had come to the hospital after hearing news of the crash and his nephew's survival.
"After we heard that an aircraft from the mountain flight had been in an accident, and, we heard that one passenger, my young nephew, had survived and been taken to hospital for treatment, we came here, but, he died later, as well," he said.
His passing brought the death toll in the crash, near Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, to 19 -- all of those on board.
A Reuters photographer, who reached the hilltop crash site through a wet and slippery mud road, saw badly damaged bodies of the victims, mobiles, shoes and other belongings scattered on a slope.
The plane has broken into several pieces and black smoke was rising from the debris, he said.
At the hospital in Patan witnesses described the crash and their efforts to save Karmacharya.
"The plane was flying about 200 feet (60 metres), under a very thick mist. Even in those weather conditions, we wondered why it was so low. We saw a pointed thing like a rod on the front of the plane and suddenly we heard a huge blast which made the whole village shake and the plane burst into flames in a massive fireball. Seeing this we ran," said Raj Kumar KC.
"When we re-approached some policemen had turned up, we asked for help, but they just ignored us. Later we had some help from a plain-clothed policeman," he added.
"Three, four uniformed police officers came, then, went away; why, we don't know," another eyewitness Bijaya Pathak said.
In an initial statement, a senior official for Buddha Air said it had been the first air accident for the operator in 14 years.
Relatives of the dead gathered at the mortuary of the teaching hospital in Kathmandu, where the mother of an air hostess who died in the crash could be seen being comforted.
An official at the Kathmandu airport Rescue Coordination Centre, who refused to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the plane had crashed at Kotdanda, about 5 km (3 miles) south of the Nepali capital.
There were 10 Indian and two American, one Japanese, three Nepali passengers and three Nepali crew members, he said.
Kathmandu and its surrounding hills were enveloped in late monsoon clouds early on Sunday.
The last plane crash in Nepal was in December last year, when a Twin Otter aircraft hit the Himalayan foothills of remote west Nepal, killing all 22 people onboard.
Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountain peaks, including Mount Everest.
Tens of thousands of hikers and foreign tourists go to Mount Everest and other trekking routes to see the lofty Himalayan peaks every year.
Those who cannot hike the rugged hilly trails to the mountains use mountain flights operated by different airlines to see the Himalayas.
Tourism, a key source of earning for impoverished Nepal, accounts for nearly four percent of the gross domestic product and employs tens of thousands of people, among the poorest in the world. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None