Over 50 dead in plane crash at Kathmandu
12 Mar 2018
At least 50 people are are reported to have died after a Dhaka-based US-Bangla Airlines passenger aircraft crashed at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), though the exact death toll has yet to announced officially.
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| Kathmandu Post |
The plane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 twin propellor, with 71 people including a crew of four caught fire after it veered off the runway while landing and crashed at a football ground near the airport.
The flight, UBG 211, was en route to Kathmandu from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and crashed at 2:18 pm local time .
"Over 50 people are feared dead. We are carrying out rescue work. We are collecting details," Raj Kumar Chhetri, TIA General Manager, was quoted as saying.
Over 20 injured were taken to Kathmandu Medical College, of whom seven were brought dead at the hospital.
The remaining are being treated for serious burns.
The plane had circled the airport twice as it waited for clearance to land, and while it prepared to land swerved repeatedly.
"The plane shot off the runway while it was about to crash into the hanger and immediately caught fire," an airport official was quoted as the Himalayan Times, reported.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the football ground where the plane crashed.
Officials, however, say a technical glitch could have caused the accident. "The aircraft was permitted to land from the Southern side of the runway over Koteshwor but it landed from the Northern side," Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Sanjiv Gautam was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
The airline, part of US-Bangla Group, is based in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and flies to several domestic and international destinations.
