18 die in Nepali plane crash, nationalities confirmed
8/10/2008 17:20
Nepali aviation authority confirmed 18 died in an air crash in Lukla
airport this morning.
A Nepal Yeti Airlines domestic plane this morning
caught fire while landing at Lukla airport, east of Nepali capital
Kathmandu.
Mohan Adhikari, general manager of Nepali Kathmandu Tribhuvan
International Airport on behalf of the related Nepali aviation authority, said
at a press conference that 18 people died in the accident.
Mohan Adhikari
further told Xinhua reporter the 18 dead including two crew members, 14 German
passengers, two Australian passengers and two Nepali passengers, while the only
one still alive is a Nepali passenger. The injured is treated in Kathmandu
hospital, Mohan Adhikari said.
Former local report said there were two Swiss
nationals on board, which was wrong, Mohan Adhikari confirmed the two are
Australian instead.
"Altogether there were 19 people on board and most of
them were foreign tourists," an official in the Lukla airport once told Xinhua
reporter this morning.
Lukla airport is gateway to mount Mt.Qomolangma (Mt.
Everest), some 130 km east of Nepali capital Kathmandu. International tourists
are coming to Nepal at the beginning of October, the end of Nepali monsoon
season.
Xinhua
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