Plane Crash In Nepal Leaves 68 Dead

A plane crash near an airport in central Nepal has claimed the lives of 68 people and that count is expected to rise.

An aircraft with a total of 72 passengers flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara suddenly crashed shortly before reaching its destination.

Before the crash, dozens of videos of a low-flying Yeti Air ATR72 made their way on the web.

Take a look:

https://twitter.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1614544337961996289

As of right now the cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

#Nepal
72 passengers were on board. Plane crash at Pokhra International Airport. pic.twitter.com/igBoObcCDm

— Aishwarya Paliwal (@AishPaliwal) January 15, 2023

BBC shared these details:

Dozens of people have been killed after a plane with 72 people on board crashed near an airport in central Nepal.

The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara crashed on landing before catching fire.

Videos posted on social media show an aircraft flying low over a populated area before rolling sharply.

At least 68 people are confirmed to have died, officials said. Several critically injured survivors were taken to hospital, unconfirmed reports said.

Local resident Deeveta Kal told the BBC how she rushed to the crash site after seeing the aircraft plunge from the sky shortly after 11:00am local time (05:15 GMT).

“By the time I was there the crash site was already crowded. There was huge smoke coming from the flames of the plane. And then helicopters came over in no time,” she said.

“The pilot tried his best to not hit civilisation or any home,” Deevta Kal added. “There was a small space right beside the Seti River and the flight hit the ground in that small space.”

The flight set out with 68 passengers on board, including at least 15 foreign nationals, and four crew members.

Horrifying last moments of an ATR plane crash from Nepal in Pokhara that was bound for Kathmandu. All 72 people on board are dead. pic.twitter.com/4JZIvnThPQ

— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) January 15, 2023

CNN added these details:

At least 64 people were killed on Sunday when an aircraft crashed near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal, a government official said.

Seventy-two people – four crew members and 68 passengers – were on board the ATR-72 plane operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines when it crashed, Yeti Airlines spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said. Thirty-seven were men, 25 were women, three were children and three were infants, Nepal’s civil aviation authority reported.

First responders were still working to locate the last eight passengers, but they are “losing hope” of finding them alive, Fanindra Mani Pokharal, the joint secretary of Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs, told CNN. A local official had previously expressed hope that some survivors might be found.

Among the dead is at least one infant, according to the Nepal’s civil aviation authority.

🚨UPDATE: 68 dead in Nepal plane crash – officials https://t.co/FDMQGxiKOu

— Breaking News (@NewsJunkieBreak) January 15, 2023