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Nepal plane crash: Fate of 4 Indians unclear; kin asked to contact embassy
The Tara Air plane, carrying 22 people including four Indian nationals, two Germans, 13 Nepali passengers and a three-member Nepali crew, was on a 15-minute scheduled flight to the mountain town of Jomsom.
The Thane Police has asked the family members of four Indians onboard the Twin Otter aircraft of Tara Air that reportedly crashed in the mountains of the Himalayan nation on Sunday to contact the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.
The Tara Air plane, carrying 22 people including four Indian nationals, two Germans, 13 Nepali passengers and a three-member Nepali crew, was on a 15-minute scheduled flight to the mountain town of Jomsom. It took off from the resort town of Pokhara, 200 km east of Kathmandu. It lost contact with the airport tower shortly after takeoff.
News agency PTI reported that the relatives of Ashok Kumar Tripathi, Dhanush Tripathi, Ritika Tripathi and Vaibhawi Tripathi back home have been asked to contact the Indian embassy in the neighbouring country.
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PTI added that Ashok Kumar Tripathi, his wife Vaibhavi Tripathi and children Dhanush and Ritika are currently residing in Thane city near Mumbai.
"After the incident, the Indian embassy in Nepal contacted the Mumbai Police to get more information about the four family members who are on board the plane. The address mentioned on the passport of Vaibhavi Bandekar (Tripathi) was Chikuwadi locality in Borivali suburb of Mumbai," PTI quoted a Mumbai Police official as saying.
"When a team of the Mumbai police reached her flat in Borivali, they found it locked. It was learnt that she has rented it out to someone, who is also currently out of the country. Later, when asked, her neighbours told the police that the Tripathi family has shifted to Thane city, after which the police contacted her relatives residing there," he said. They currently reside in the area under the jurisdiction of Kapurbawdi area of Thane, he added.
"The Mumbai police then provided their details to the Indian embassy," the police official said.
Chief district officer of Myagdi Chiranjibi Rana earlier told The Kathmandu Post newspaper that bad weather hampered the search efforts at the site where the plane was last spotted by the locals. Later, news agency ANI reported that the search and rescue operations have been called off for the day due to snowfall.
According to Rana, locals reported that the plane made two circles at Khaibang and headed to Kiti Danda near Lete Pass (2,500m).
A helicopter that flew from Pokhara in search of the missing aircraft earlier in the day returned without any success due to bad weather.
It has been raining in the area for the past few days but flights have been operating normally. Planes on that route fly between mountains before landing in a valley, news agency AFP reported.
It is a popular route with foreign hikers who trek on the mountain trails and also with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.
In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter flying the same route crashed after takeoff, killing all 23 people aboard. In 2012, an Agni Air plane also flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, killing 15 people. Six people survived. In 2014, a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed, killing all 18 onboard.
In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people aboard.
