KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A plane crashed into a mountain in the Himalayas while trying to land at an airport in northern Nepal on Monday, killing 15 people and injuring six, some critically.
It was carrying two pilots and a flight attendant — all Nepalese — along with 16 Indians and two Danish citizens, both of whom survived, officials said.
Television footage showed the Danes being taken inside a hospital in the nearby city of Pokhara, the man being led on foot and the woman crying in pain as she was carried on a stretcher.
The plane was turning to land at Jomsom Airport when it crashed, said Laxmi Raj Sharma, chief government administrator in the area.
It broke into pieces but did not catch fire. Sharma said an initial investigation indicated the Dornier aircraft, which belonged to the local Agni Air company, might have had technical problems.
Rescue was swift because the plane crashed just few meters (yards) from an army camp at Jomsom.
The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet said it spoke to the Danish passengers by phone at the hospital and identified them as Emilie Joergensen and Andreas Rasch.
"We were thrown around. The seats were unfastened and we were squeezed between seats and bodies," it quoted Joergensen as saying.
She said they had to climb over "hands and arms" to get out of the plane.
"I think it was easy for us to get out because we sat in the back and were closest to the exit," Joergensen said.
She said they were on their way to Jomsom where they planned to go trekking.
The Jomsom airport is a gateway to a popular destination for trekkers and for Hindu pilgrims on their way to the revered Muktinath temple. It is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Katmandu.
Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai expressed his condolences over the deaths.
Injured of the Agni Air plane crash at Pokhara airport prior being ferried to Manipal hospital. Six passengers were rescued while fifteen other people have been killed after the Agni Airline's Jomsom-bound 9N Air India Golf (AIG) carrying 21 people on board crashed into Northern hills of Jomsom on Monday‚ May 14‚ 2012.
THT ONLINE
Six passengers‚ including two foreigners and an air hostess identified as R. Haiju have been rescued
KATHMANDU: Fifteen people lost their life as the Agni Air's Jomsom-bound 9N AIG aircraft carrying 21 people on board crashed into the northern hills of Jomsom in Mustang district of western Nepal on Monday morning.
The ill-fated plane had flown from Pokhara with 18 passengers including 16 Indian pilgrims and two other foreign tourists and three crew members on board when it crashed at 9:30 am while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in Jomsom --a famous trekking and tourist
DEADLY AIR CRASH
KATHMANDU: Fifteen people lost their life as the Agni Air's Jomsom-bound 9N AIG aircraft carrying 21 people on board crashed into the northern hills of Jomsom in Mustang district of western Nepal on Monday morning.
The ill-fated plane had flown from Pokhara with 18 passengers including 16 Indian pilgrims and two other foreign tourists and three crew members on board when it crashed at 9:30 am while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in Jomsom --a famous trekking and tourist destination.
Six passengers including three Indian nationals, two Danish tourists and an airhostess were rescued alive. It has been said that the aircraft turned into pieces but did not catch fire.
The air hostess rescued has been identified as R. Haiju.
Update:
The plane plunged into a hill close to Jomsom near the Annapurna mountain range, the news agency AFP quoted the Nepal Police’s Spokesperson Binod Singh. "The plane was about to land at Jomsom airport. It hit a muddy slope and the plane is now buried in the side of the hill," Singh said.
It has been learnt that the Indian passengers had chartered the flight to take them from Pokhara to Muktinath, a religious site for Hindus and Buddhists in Mustang district.
13 Indians among dead in Agni Air plane crash
The bodies of Pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and Co-pilot JD Maharjan have been recovered.
It has been also learnt that seven bodies of Indian nationals have been found near the crash site.
According to police official Nareswor Aryal, 16 people are Indians while two passengers are westerners.
The injured have been airlifted to Pokhara for treatment. The two injured foreigners and air hostess are receiving treatment at Manipal Hospital in Pokhara.
The plane met with the accident due to technical problems which disabled the plane's flight.
With this, the number of plane crash in Nepal has reached 71.
It was fifth plane crash in Jomsom area.
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