Four of the five Indians on board the Yeti Airlines Kathmandu-Pokhara flight which crashed on Sunday were residents of Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh. At least 68 people were killed when a Yeti Airlines passenger plane with 72 people on board, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in Nepal’s Pokhara.
Four deceased, who were friends, were identified as Abhishek Kushwaha (25), Vishal Sharma (25), Anil Kumar Rajbhar (25) and Sonu Jaiswal (30), reported The Indian Express. The fifth deceased has been identified as Sanjay Jaiswal, although the police said it does not have confirmation that he was a resident of Ghazipur.
Sharma belonged to Alawalpur Chatti village in the Badesar area, Jaiswal had houses in Chak Jainab and Alawalpur Chatti but was currently living in Sarnath, Rajbhar was a resident of Chak Jainab in the Badesar area and Kushwaha of Dharwa in the Nonhara area, a police spokesperson said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths, adding that officials have been asked to coordinate with Ministry of External Affairs to bring back the mortal remains.
‘Went to Pashupatinath temple as wish was fulfilled’
One of the five Indians killed in the airline crash, Sonu Jaiswal, had gone to pay obeisance at the famed Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a son was fulfilled around six months ago, one of his relative said, as reported by PTI.
Jaiswal, who had two daughters, had taken a vow to visit the temple as his wish, to have a son, was fulfilled. His relative and Chak Jainab village head Vijay Jaiswal told PTI that Sonu and three of his friends had gone to Nepal on January 10.
“His main purpose was to pay obeisance to Lord Pashupatinath as his wish to have a son, now six months old, has been fulfilled. But fate had something else in store for him,” said a visibly emotional Vijay Jaiswal. Sonu Jaiswal ran a beer shop.
Search operations continue on Day 2
Search operations continued on Monday for the four persons who were still missing. It was suspended on Sunday evening. Assistant Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kaski Anil Shahi said some bodies could not be pulled out of the gorge due to the difficult topography.
Yeti Airlines’ 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 AM, with 68 passengers and four crew members onboard, and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The flight time between Kathmandu and Pokhara is 25 minutes.