The Nepal government on Monday said that no person has survived the De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter Tara Air plane crash which occurred on Sunday.
Speaking to news agency ANI, spokesperson for the Nepal home ministry said that the rescuers and officials present on site suspected that no person survived the plane crash.
The rescue team at the site have also begun collecting the bodies of those deceased. The Nepal civil aviation department said that sixteen bodies have been collected so far.
“We suspected all the passengers on board the aircraft lost their lives. Our preliminary assessment shows that no one could have survived the plane crash, but an official statement is due,” Phadindra Mani Pokhrel was quoted as saying by ANI.
The Nepal local media said that the team has begun collecting the bodies. Earlier another news report, quoting rescue officials present on the site, said that the bodies of the deceased were not recognizable.
The rescue team confirmed post landing at the crash site in Sanosware, Thasang-2 in Mustang that there are no survivors following Sunday’s fatal clash. They said that the crash site lies at an elevation of about 14,500 feet above sea level. The rescue team of 15 Nepali Army soldiers were dropped at 11,000 meters height near the crash site.
The aircraft carrying at least 22 passengers flying from Pokhara to Jomsom lost contact after reaching the Lete area of Mustang. Locals earlier speculated that the plane crashed at the mouth of the Lamche river near the base of Manapathi Himal, according to Nepal News. Of those 22, 16 people were from Nepal and there were 6 foreigners of whom 4 were Indians.
The Indians aboard the flight were a family who were on a family trip with their two children.
Bikal Bagdas of Boksekhola, a local from Thasang rural municipality-2 told Nepal News that he saw the Tara Air flight flying in circles at a height lower than average, adding that the plane flying to Mustang was flying at a very low altitude which seemed odd to him.
Another hotelier, Indra Singh Sherchan, while speaking to Nepal news agency Onlinekhabar said that all the bodies were not burnt but all aboard were dead. “Their bodies aren’t burnt either but none of them are alive. Their bodies are everywhere,” Sherchan said.
(with inputs from NepalNews, Onlinekhabar, ANI and PTI)
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