Nepal Plane Crash: ‘Pained By Tragic Air Crash’ Says PM Modi, Top Updates

Kathmandu: In a tragic incident, a 72-seater passenger aircraft on Sunday crashed on the runway at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and expressed grief over the tragic accident.

According to reports, atleast 68 people have been reported dead, out of which five were Indians who were onboard during the crash.

#WATCH | Visual from #Nepal 's #PokharaInternationalAirport where a passenger aircraft crashed earlier today.

-ANI pic.twitter.com/vxusrG5RER

— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) January 15, 2023

Key Updates:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and added “Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals.”
• He further added “In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families.”
• Nepal Army Officials added that “The search operation has been halted for today and bodies are yet to be retrieved.”
• The officials further added that “Nepal Army will continue the search and rescue operation from tomorrow morning.”
• According to Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, the death toll in a plane crash at Nepal’s Pokhara airport rises to 68.
• The Kathmandu-Pokhara flight was carrying 68 people onboard and four crew members during the crash.
• The flight was carrying 53 Nepali, 5 Indian, 4 Russian, One Irish, 2 South Koreans, 1 Argentinian, and a French national on board.
• Nepal Secretariat added that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane’s visit to Pokhara has been cancelled.
• The Indian embassy informed that it was in contact with the local authorities.
• The India embassy helpline numbers — Diwakar Sharma: +977-9851107021 for Kathmandu and Lt Col Shashank Tripathi: +977-9856037699 for the Pokhara region — to help the kin of the deceased Indian passengers.
• The government of Nepal declared a day of national mourning tomorrow i.e 16th January in wake of the aircraft crash at Pokhara airport.
• The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) confirmed that Yeti Airlines’ 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am.
• According to local media reports, the plane crashed on the bank of the Seti river situated between the old and the new airport while landing.