KATHMANDU, Nepal — A
passenger plane from Bangladesh slammed into an empty field and caught fire
just short of the runway at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Monday, and
officials feared many of the plane’s 67 passengers were dead.
Huge,
dark gray columns of smoke uncoiled from the field as rescuers tried to save as
many people as possible from the burning wreckage.
The
plane, US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, was landing at Tribhuvan International
Airport in Kathmandu on a flight from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, when it
crashed at 2:15 p.m. Witnesses said it was wobbling in the air and seemed
unbalanced as it approached. The tail slammed into the ground, and fire erupted
at the rear of the plane.
“It
sounded like a bomb went off,” said Kailash Adhikari, a driver for a fuel
company working at the Kathmandu airport. He said it took 15 minutes for
firefighters to put out the flames.
Nepalese police officials said the flight
was carrying 67 passengers; it was not clear how many crew members were aboard.
After the crash, ambulances with screaming sirens rushed in and out of the
airport gates. Some of the wounded were ferried to Kathmandu hospitals by
helicopter.
Nepalese officials said
they did not know how many people had survived. One witness said the fuselage
had been reduced to ashes.
Airline
officials were trying to determine the cause of the crash. “Further
details of the crash are still awaited,” said Kamrul Islam, general manager of
marketing support for the airline. Images
on social media showed heavy black smoke rising from the airport.
Airport
officials said that several people were still trapped in the wreckage 90
minutes after crash. Twenty-five burned bodies were visible at the site, and a
photojournalist said that 10 survivors had been taken to the hospital. He said
the plane came to rest about 150 feet from the runway.
After
the crash, the airport was shut down, and officials said several planes were
circling in the sky above Kathmandu waiting for clearance to land. Some were
short on fuel as they waited.The
airline’s posted schedule said Flight 211, a Bombardier Dash 8 from Dhaka, was
scheduled to land at 2:15 p.m., around the actual time of the crash. The plane,
a twin-engine turboprop, can carry as many as 78 passengers.
US-Bangla
Airlines began operations in 2014, and its route between Dhaka and Kathmandu
was its first international one, said CAPA-Center for Aviation. The airline is a
subsidiary of the US-Bangla Group, a joint American-Bangladeshi company.
PM Oli reaches TIA to
take stock of rescue efforts
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visited Tribhuvan International
Airport (TIA) today to inquire about ongoing rescue operation after the
aircraft of US-Bangla caught fire while landing there. The aircraft en route to Kathmandu from Dhaka of Bangladesh crashed while
landing at TIA at 2:40 pm today. Prime Minister Oli reached TIA along with Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa to
take details of the incident and updates about rescue operation from the
office-bearers of TIA-based Office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to make
all arrangements required for carrying the rescue works in a prompt and
effective way, expressing his grief over the tragic incident. He rushed towards
TIA, following the incident by postponing a meeting of the Council of Ministers
scheduled for 4:00 pm today.
Home Minister reaches TIA,
directs for prompt rescue of injured
Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa visited Tribhuvn International
Airport (TIA), following the crash of an aircraft from Dhaka of Banlgadesh this
afternoon.
He reached the airport at around 3:00 pm to inspect the incident site and
directed authorities concerned to leave no stone unturned to ensure timely
rescue and relief of the injured passengers. (with input of various news
agencies, photo : the kathmandu post)
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