Pokhara, February 25
Eighteen bodies have been brought to Pokhara from Kekarbutta, Myagdi district, where a Tara Air plane with call sign 9N-AHH crashed on Wednesday, killing all 23 people — three crew and 20 passengers — on board.
Three bodies were taken to Mustang after establishing the victims’ identities. Efforts are on to bring the other bodies to Pokhara. The 18 bodies were brought to Pokhara in an Air Dynasty helicopter on Thursday afternoon.
Of the victims airlifted to Pokhara, one has been identified as Rewati Baral of Masbar. His body will be handed over to kin after a post-mortem.
The bodies of Binata Bhattachan and her son have also been identified. The district administration said it will hand over the bodies to the relatives after autopsies.
The identities of other victims are yet to be ascertained, senior superintendent of police Mahendra Kumar Pokharel said. He said the process to bring the bodies of the other victims is on.
The plane had left Pokhara for Jomsom at 7.57 am on Wednesday and lost contact with the control tower about 10 minutes later. The crash site was located at 1 am. The remoteness of the area and bad weather had delayed rescue efforts.
