Kin of five air crash victims in Nepal receive bodies

Kathmandu, Jul 26 (PTI) Bodies of five out of 18 persons killed in the deadly plane crash in Nepal were handed over to their relatives on Friday, police said, even as some of them refused to accept the corpses demanding clarity on the issue of compensation and insurance.

On Wednesday, a Pokhara-bound aircraft of Saurya Airlines, carrying 19 people, including two crew members, technical staff of the airline, and a child and his mother, crashed shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) here and caught fire.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Amar Thapa of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj, said relatives of five of the deceased received the bodies.

While most of the bodies were identified, there were difficulties in identifying some of the severely charred bodies, according to the doctors.

“Although the post-mortem is complete and the bodies are expected to be handed over today, some relatives have refused to accept them, demanding that the government and airlines finalise compensation and insurance issues first,” The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

Saurya Airlines has committed that it would provide as much support as possible to the victims’ kin.

“We assure the victims’ families that we will provide all possible support and assistance,” the report said, citing a statement by Saurya Airlines chairman Dipak Kumar Pokharel.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the crashed aircraft Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, who was the lone survivor, was shifted to a general ward from the intensive care unit (ICU) following improvement in his health condition, the newspaper said quoting Professor Dr Meena Thapa, director of Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital.

On Wednesday, some family members and friends of the victims who had gathered at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), where the post-mortem of the deceased took place, alleged that the airlines and the civil aviation authority permitted the flight despite knowing that the plane had technical problems.

According to Nepal’s civil aviation body, it is the 105th plane crash in Nepali skies since the first disaster in August 1955, the report said. PTI NPK NPK NPK