15 people have been confirmed dead with 6 others injured when an aircraft belonging to Agni Air crashed in Jomsom, the district headquarters of remote Mustang district, at around 9:50 this morning. The ill-fated Agni Air aircraft 9N AIG-D228 Dornier bound for Jomsom had 21 people on board which included 18 foreigners and 3 crew members. Although the reason behind the crash is yet to be ascertained, it has been stated that the aircraft, after finding it hard to land at the Jomsom airport was on its way back to Pokhara during which it crashed into a hill close to the airport.
Among those killed are pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot SD Maharjan while the rest of the victims are Indian nationals who were on a pilgrimage to the Muktinath temple.The 13 Indian nationals killed in the crash have been identified as K. Mahanya, S.K Arora, M. Honda, M.K. Arora, R. Honda, K. Arora, T. Sachdev, G. Sachdev, Sudhav Sanaim, Tirumala Kidambi, Ichyambadi Latha and Mr. and Mrs Kumar. Six people who were rescued alive from the crash site are the aircraft's air hostess Roshani Haiju, Danish nationals duo R. Andrias and T. Emily and Indian citizens Tirumala Kidambi Shreevardini and two children—Tirumala Kidambi Sreekant and Kidambi Tirumala Sreepada. The injured have been airlifted to Pokhara for treatment at Manipal Hospital and their conditions are said to be stable.
Immediately after the crash, teams of Nepal Army, Police and the local people had rushed to the site for rescue. The bodies of all the deceased in the crash have been ferried to Kathmandu by a Nepal Army helicopter. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai through a press release has extended his condolences to the bereaved families and has wished for the speedy recovery of those who were injured.
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