Nepal plane crash: Importation of mortal remains to be initiated after DNA match

Nepalese authorities started handing over to family members the bodies of those killed after Yeti Airlines’ aircraft with 72 people, including five Indians, crashed in a river gorge in the resort city of Pokhara, as the death toll rose to 70.

Kin of four men from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district who died in Sunday’s Nepal plane crash, reached Kathmandu on Tuesday to identify the charred bodies of their loved ones and complete formalities for the handover of the mortal remains. The process for importation of the bodies to India would be initiated after DNA analysis and autopsy, said district administration officials.

Family members of victims who died in the Yeti Airlines plane crash wait outside a hospital, in Pokhara on Tuesday. (AFP)

Nepalese authorities started handing over to family members the bodies of those killed after Yeti Airlines’ aircraft with 72 people, including five Indians, crashed in a river gorge in the resort city of Pokhara, as the death toll rose to 70.

Of the five Indians, four were from Ghazipur and one from Bihar. Victims from UP’s Ghazipur were identified as Sonu Jaiswal, 35, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 27, Abhishek Kushwaha, 27, and Vishal Sharma, 22, of Ghazipur while Sanjay Jaiswal, 26, was from Bihar’s Sitamarhi.

Jaya Singh, tehsildar (Kasimabad), was in touch with the family members of the deceased (from Ghazipur), after the district administration was contacted by the Nepal Embassy to complete formalities of body identification.

“Importation of human remains would be initiated only after a successful DNA match. The administration is yet to be conveyed how and when the human remains would be sent to the district authorities. The bodies would be handed over to the family members once they are received from Kathmandu,” stated the official.

The group of five family members, accompanied by an official and a police constable, had left for Kathmandu around 3pm on Monday. They alleged apathy by officials, saying they were made to wait for around 12 hours at the Nepal border. They reportedly crossed the border at 9:30 am on Tuesday, after it was opened for public.

“We were already traumatised by our son’s death and now the 12-hour wait was unbearable. We have managed to reach Kathmandu and completed the formalities of body identification,” said Rajendra Jaiswal, father of deceased Sonu Jaiswal.

Rajendra Jaiswal, his relative Vijay Jaiswal, Anil Rajbhar’s father Ramdaras Rajbhar, Vishal Sharma’s brother Vishwajeet Sharma and Abhishek Kushwaha’s elder brother Abhinesh Kushwaha are the five family members who were sent to Nepal.

On Sunday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said instructions had been given to officials to coordinate with the ministry of external affairs to make arrangements to bring the mortal remains of the deceased people of Uttar Pradesh to the state.