A passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing all 18 people on board, according to police in Nepal’s capital.
Nepal has a poor track record in aviation safety, with a number of tragic light plane and helicopter crashes throughout the years.
According to Nepali police spokesman Dan Karki, the Saurya Airlines flight had two crew members and 17 employees on board.
“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he said. “Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for a postmortem.”
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the dead foreigner was a Yemeni citizen.
According to the airport’s news release, the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after takeoff.
According to the report, the survivor was in bad condition in the hospital. Ram Kumar K.C., who owns a tyre shop near the crash site, told AFP that the jet caught fire after striking the ground.
“We were about to run to the site, but then there was an explosion, so we ran away again,” the 48-year-old said.
Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority told AFP that the flight was for technical or maintenance purposes.
The Nepalese military published images of the aftermath, which showed the plane’s fuselage torn apart and burned to a husk.
Around a dozen soldiers in camouflage stood on top of the debris, with the surrounding ground doused in fire retardant.
Dozens of bereaved relatives gathered outside a neighbouring hospital after the bodies were taken from the disaster site.
“I am heartbroken,” Rajan Acharya, the brother of a safety officer aboard the flight, told AFP. “He was my brother, but even more than that, we were best friends.”
The jet was scheduled to fly between Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal’s busiest air route and a major tourist destination.
According to its website, Saurya Airlines exclusively operates Bombardier CRJ 200 planes.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
