This video has not been confirmed by local authorities yet, but Mr. Kazmi himself is a reputable person, working for many newspapers and television stations such as Dawn News, Samaa TV, Star News, and has appeared on TV shows. BBC, CNN, Huffington Post.
Through the video, the ATR 72 can be seen rolling, leaning to one side, then a few seconds later there is a huge “bang” noise and panicked screams.
The crash involved a Yeti Airlines ATR 72 twin-engine aircraft departing from Kathmandu. The plane crashed in Pokhara, western Nepal.
A spokesman for Yeti Airlines said there were 68 passengers on board, including two infants, 10 foreigners, and four crew members when the plane crashed.
At this time, because the rescue work is being carried out urgently with the highest priority being to find the survivors and the bodies of the dead, the number of dead people has not been accurately counted.
Army spokesman Krishna Bhandari said the plane was broken into pieces, the death toll as of early afternoon on January 15 was 16 and could continue to rise. Meanwhile, Sky News news agency quoted a spokesman for the Nepal Aviation Authority as saying that at least 40 bodies had been found at the scene.
Video taken by witnesses on the ground shows the ATR-72 plane carrying 72 people of Nepal Airlines tilted 90 degrees before plunging to the ground.
The plane then disappeared from the frame, but the video still captures the screeching of the plane’s engines and a loud crash, seemingly at the moment the plane crashed to the ground.
The cause of the plane crash is not yet known.officials and Yeti Airlines have not commented on the video.
Wajahat Kazmi, a journalist based in Nepal and formerly working for international news agencies such as BBC or CNN, also shared the video on his personal Twitter account. He said this was a picture of “the last horrifying moments of the ATR crash in Pokhara, Nepal”.
Airport officials said 54 Nepalese, five Indian, four Russian, one Irish, two Korean, one Argentinian and one French national were on board.
Krishna Bhandari, Nepal’s army spokesman, said they had confirmed at least 40 people died in the accident. The plane broke into pieces and caught fire after colliding with a hillside next to the Seti River, but firefighters quickly put out the flames.
The Nepalese government said security forces had been mobilized to the scene to participate in the rescue. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal convened an emergency meeting with his cabinet about the tragedy, demanding an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Air accidents are common in Nepal, mainly with small domestic passenger planes, because the country is located in the Himalayas, has difficult terrain and complicated weather. Over the past 30 years, nearly 30 fatal air accidents have occurred in Nepal. In May 2022, killing 22 people on board.
The ATR-72 is a short-haul passenger aircraft that has been in service since 1988, with a crew of two and a capacity of 78 people. More than 400 ATR-72s have been produced and served by airlines around the world.
