Probe commission on Lukla crash to start work from today

The five-member commission formed by the government to probe the Lukla air tragedy in which 18 people, mostly foreign nationals, died is to begin its investigation from today.

The probe commission headed by acting co-attorney general Puspa Raj Koirala and which includes Ranjit Singh Baral, Subas Baral, Upendra Lal Shrestha and Nagendra Ghimire as members will start investigating the cause(s) that led to the terrible accident that shook Nepal’s tourism industry on the eve of the Dashain festivals, which is also a peak tourist season.

The exact cause of incident is not known yet, but Yeti Airlines in its statement, has quoted an eyewitness as stating that it was foggy at the time the accident took place.

Ranjit Singh Baral, member of the probe team, told a local radio station that the commission will begin its investigation by first going through the postmortem report of the victims who died in the air tragedy.

He said the probe team is flying to Lukla today to visit the site of the accident.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing to submit the bodies of the foreign nationals who died in the air tragedy after finishing their autopsy today.

The bodies are being kept at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital at Maharajgunj and will be submitted to German and Australian Embassies in Kathmandu.

Twelve German nationals, two Australians and two Nepali passengers died in the accident along with co-pilot Bikash Panta and air hostess Sunita Shrestha.

The bodies of Nepalis who died in the tragedy have already been submitted to their family members.

The government has asked the commission to submit its report on the incident within two months.

A Yeti Airlines Twin Otter had crashed on final approach at the Tenzing-Hillary airport, Lukla, killing 18 people, mostly foreign nationals, Wednesday morning.

Only one crew member, the pilot – Surendra Kunwar, survived the tragic accident. He is undergoing treatment at TU Teaching Hospital. nepalnews.com ag Oct 10 08

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