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A day after a twin-engine aircraft operated by Nepal's Tara Air went missing in the mountainous Mustang district after taking off, all 22 people on board, including four Indian passengers, were confirmed dead as per the passenger list released by the airline on Monday, 30 May.
The Indians on board were identified as Vaibhavi Bandekar, Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Dhanush Tripathy, and Ritika Tripathy, as per IANS.
Earlier, the authorities in Nepal had said that all 22 people on board the aircraft were suspected to have lost their lives. This estimate was then confirmed on Monday.
"Our preliminary assessment shows that no one could have survived the plane crash, but official statement is due," Phadindra Mani Pokhrel, Spokesperson, Home Ministry, told news agency ANI.
The statement from the ministry comes after rescuers earlier pulled out 14 bodies from the crash site.
Meanwhile, a Nepal Army spokesperson told ANI that a team of 15 Nepali Army soldiers has been dropped near the crash site to retrieve the bodies. "The crash site lies at an elevation of about 14,500 feet while the team has been dropped at 11,000 meters height," he said.
The bodies will reportedly be flown to Kathmandu for post-mortem examination.
Crash Site Found Hours After Aircraft Went Missing
After the aircraft was reported to be missing for several hours, the Nepal Army on Monday located the crash site of the Tara Air aircraft at Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang.
A team led by Nepal Police Inspector Raj Kumar Tamang reached the crash site by air.
“Some of the bodies of the passengers are beyond recognition. Police are gathering the remains,” the official said, according to ANI.
The aircraft had taken off at 9:55 am from Pokhara and was scheduled to land at Jomsom Airport at 10:15 am. However, it went missing 15 minutes after takeoff.
The aircraft, which had the call sign 9 NAET, was carrying 22 people including the crew, from Pokhara to Jomsom in Nepal. Besides four Indians and a three-member Nepali crew, there were two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers.
Search Ops Called Off on Sunday
On Sunday, hours after the plane went missing, the search and rescue operation was called off due to heavy snowfall.
Soon after the aircraft went out of contact, the Nepal Army deployed its personnel in the Lete area for search.
The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said it was trying to establish contacts with the family members of the passengers. The embassy published a notice and hotline numbers for assistance.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI, and IANS.)
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