50 die as Bangladeshi plane crashes in Nepal

Bangladesh embassy in Nepal opens hotline: +9779810100401, +9779861467422


FE Online Report | Published: March 12, 2018 18:07:54 | Updated: March 13, 2018 17:38:22


Nepalese rescuers stand near a passenger plane from Bangladesh that crashed at the airport in Kathmandu of Nepal on Monday. -AP Photo

At least 50 people died after a Bangladeshi plane with 67 passengers and four crew on board crashed near Kathmandu airport on Monday.

The plane crashed on Monday before landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu of Nepal around 2:20pm.

“We have recovered 50 dead bodies so far,” said Nepal's army spokesman Gokul Bhandari.

Several people were rescued from the burning wreckage of the Bombardier Q400 series aircraft but nine people were still unaccounted for, he said.

Reuters, Hindustan Times, NDTV and some other global media published reports confirming the death toll quoting the Army spokesman of Nepal.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam held a press conference in Dhaka after the accident.

According to his estimate; 41 people on board have died, 10 remains missing and 20 were injured after the crash.

The state minister said Bangladesh will send a special flight after opening of the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Some doctors will fly for Kathmandu through the special flight with necessary medicines for injured passengers.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh embassy in Kathmandu has opened a hotline in the wake of the plan crash.

According to the embassy sources, for any information the following officials of the embassy can be contacted:

Mohammad Al  Alamul Emam; Counsellor:  +9779810100401, Asit Baran Sarker; First Secretary : +9779861467422.

The aircraft with call sign S2-AGU took off from Dhaka at 12.51pm (Bangladesh time).

Rescue workers continued their operation at the burning wreckage after the accident near the airport.

Bangladeshi private televisions said 33 people among 71 on board are Nepalese citizens. At least 32 people were Bangladeshis.

The airport authority cancelled all flights following the accident.

Sources said the aircraft caught fire after it skidded off the runway during landing and crashed onto a football ground near TIA.

The aircraft with call sign S2-AGU took off from Dhaka at 12.51pm (Bangladesh time) and landed at TIA at 2:20 pm.

Reuters said rescue workers recovered badly burnt bodies from the wreckage of the aircraft.

NDTV said mountainous Nepal is notorious for air accidents. Small aircraft often run into trouble at provincial airstrips.

A Thai Airways flight from Bangkok crashed while trying to land in Kathmandu in 1992 killing all on board.

US-Bangla Airlines is a unit of the US-Bangla Group, a US Bangladeshi joint venture company.

The Bangladeshi carrier launched operations in July 2014 and operates Bombardier Inc and Boeing aircraft.

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