Bodies of chopper crash victims to be brought to Kathmandu on Wednesday

Dead bodies of the victims of the deadly chopper crash in Taplejung could not be airlifted to the capital, Katmandu, on Tuesday due to bad weather and tough terrain, although collection of bodies completed on the crash scene, civil aviation officials said.

Professional climbers involved in rescue work managed to assemble the dead bodies and brought them halfway to a makeshift helipad at Phale area, Taplejung, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) told state-owned Radio Nepal. He said the bodies would be brought to the capital by around 9:00 a.m.

The weather in Lelep area, where the Sri Airlines chopper crashed on Saturday killing all 24 ob board, slightly improved in the afternoon, making the search of dead bodies possible, he said.

“The terrain is very tough. The professional climbers involved in the search had to climb up the hill with the help of ropes. They managed to collect all 24 dead bodies and brought them halfway to the helipad,” he said, informing that five helicopters have been kept standby including one at Ghunsa, which is a two-minute flight from Phale, and two in Suketar of Taplejung.

The dead bodies will be handed over to the victims’ families from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj tomorrow, Adhikari added.

Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation, Gopal Rai, senior officials of the ministry, the WWF Nepal and Kathmandu-based foreign missions lost their lives in one of the deadliest crashes in Nepal’s aviation history. nepalnews.com mk Sep 26 06

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