KATHMANDU: At least six people, including five foreign nationals and the pilot on board were killed as a tourist sight-seeing helicopter operated by Manang Air in Nepal crashed after losing contact with authorities on Tuesday morning.
The chopper operated by Manang Air was carrying foreign tourists on a sight- seeing trip near the Mount Everest region in Nepal. The helicopter with a call sign of 9N-AMV was said to have been coming to Kathmandu from Surke in Solukhunvhu district, home to Mount Everest and other high Himalayan mountain peaks. It was reported missing from near a place called Likkhu
The private commercial helicopter with six foreign nationals on board including five Mexicans crashed, leaving all the occupants dead.
Police informed that the wreckage of the crashed helicopter has been recovered, along with bodies of the occupants. “The helicopter has been found at the border of Likhu PK village council and Dudhkunda Municipality-2 commonly called Lamajura Danda. The villagers have retrieved the five bodies,” Koshi Province Police DIG Rajeshnath Bastola was quoted as saying by ANI.
The Manang Air chopper with 6 on board crashed after it went missing on Tuesday near the Mount Everest.
The helicopter was carrying foreign tourists on a sightseeing tour of the world's highest peak. It was scheduled to return to Kathmandu, the capital city, when it went missing on Tuesday morning. Airport official Sagar Kadel mentioned that the helicopter had to alter its flight route due to unfavorable weather conditions.
The pilot of the ill- fated chopper that went missing and subsequently crashed on Tuesday morning was Captain Chet Bahadur Gurung. Captain Gurung has been flying with Manang Air for around one decade and has been flying since 1998, according to a Nepalese media company.
As per MyRepublica news portal, which was citing sources that the remains of five out of the six individuals on the helicopter were found at the location of the crash
The helicopter reportedly crashed in the Lamjura area of Likhupike Rural Municipality, located in the remote and mountainous Solukhumbu district. An official said that local residents reported the helicopter crashing with a loud explosion, and that a fire was witnessed at the crash site.
“The locals discovered the crashed helicopter at Chihandanda,” rural municipality deputy chair Nwang Lhakpa was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post newspaper.
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