CRASH TRAGEDY
Nepal plane crash – At least 68 dead as passenger aircraft crashes while landing as horror video shows final moments
AT LEAST 68 people have been killed in a horror plane crash as a passenger aircraft went down while coming into land in Nepal.
Horror video shows the Yeti Airlines ATR 72's final moments as the plane appears to rock and lose control before the smashing into the ground in a fireball.
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It is the small Himalayan country's worst crash in nearly five years - and there are fears the already horrific death toll will rise.
Hundreds of rescue workers continued to scour the hillside site where the plane flying from the capital Kathmandu, went down.
Some 68 passengers and four crew are understood to have been on board the plane.
The first one of the dead has been named as travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33.
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She posted excitedly about her latest trip showing her on a plane with the message in English: "Go to Nepal".
Her social media was today full of messages of condolences, and she was described as “the brightest, kindest soul we knew”.
Soldiers are assisting rescuers is searching the vast crash scene as relatives of those on board desperately await news.
Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesman of Yeti Airlines, said: "ten foreign nationals, including two infants were on board.
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“53 Nepali, five Indian, four Russian, one Irish, two Koreans, one Argentinian, and a French national were on board.”
The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
"Rescue operations are on," said Jagannath Niroula, spokesman for Nepal civil aviation authority. "Weather was clear."
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
The crash is Nepal's deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
The ATR72 is a widely used twin engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.
Air accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
Meanwhile, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called for an emergency meeting.
"Yet to know if there are survivors," the airline's spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula told media.
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Indian Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia termed the incident “extremely unfortunate”.
"The loss of lives in a tragic plane crash in Nepal is extremely unfortunate. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bereaved. Om Shanti," he tweeted.
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