A purported video capturing the last moments of the flight of the Nepal Airlines plane which crashed on Sunday with 72 people on board is now being widely circulated on social media.
Visuals from the video apparently shot by a passenger of the ill-fated plane shows the landscape of the ground below as the plane circles and prepares for landing in Pokharan. A sudden explosion is heard and sounds of people screaming can be also be heard before the screen goes blank. Shots also capture the flames outside the window of the plane. The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed by any authority as yet.
Five Indians were confirmed to be onboard the Yeti Airlines plane carrying 72 passengers, which crashed on Sunday in Pokhara minutes before landing. A total of 68 bodies have been recovered so far from the site of the crash.
Sonu Jaiswal was apparently the passenger who had shot the video. The purported video shows shots of Jaiswal as well as other passengers in the plane.
Aryaka Akhouri district magistrate of Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh today said, "Four youths of our district, Vishal Sharma, Sonu Jaiswal, Anil Rajbhar and Abhishek Kushwaha were travelling in the plane that crashed in Nepal. They were friends. We are in touch with the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu".
Earlier today authorities recovered the black box of the aircraft and a search and rescue operation resumed this morning for the missing four passengers.
Rescue operations resumed this morning to trace four people who are still missing, DIG of the Nepal Armed Police Force, Shambhu Subedi told ANI.
The plane, a 72-seater passenger aircraft, crashed minutes before it landed at the newly-opened Pokhara international airport situated near the old airport. The twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 plane crashed en route from the Nepali capital of Kathmandu to Pokhara.
Kathmandu Post on Sunday quoted Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson of Yeti Airlines as saying that the ATR 72 Yeti airlines aircraft crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport.
Images and videos of the crash posted on social media platforms showed plumes of smoke billowing out of the crash site.
Earlier today, Nepal Army said they did not find any survivors at the site of the crash.
"We haven`t rescued anyone alive from the crash site," said Nepal Army Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari.
The country`s prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers. He has directed the country`s home ministry, security personnel and all government agencies to carry out immediate rescue and relief operations.
The Nepalese authorities have tasked a special commission with investigating the cause of the crash. A report is expected in 45 days.
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