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Nepal plane crash: Officials use drones to search for last 2 passengers at crash site

On Monday, officials found the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the flight, both in good condition, a discovery that is likely to help investigators determine what caused the crash.

Nepal plane crash: Officials use drones to search for last 2 passengers at crash site AJR
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First Published Jan 17, 2023, 11:50 AM IST

Officials on Tuesday (January 17) said that searchers used drones and rappelled down a 200 metres deep gorge in west Nepal to search for two passengers still unaccounted for after the country's deadliest plane crash in 30 years, which killed at least 70 people.

According to reports, difficult terrain and inclement weather hampered rescue efforts near the tourist city of Pokhara, where the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 turboprop carrying 72 people crashed in clear weather on Sunday just before landing.

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"There is thick fog here now. We are sending search and rescue personnel using ropes into the gorge where parts of the plane fell and were in flames," Ajay KC, a police official in Pokhara who is part of the rescue efforts said.

"There were small children among the passengers. Some might have been burnt and died, and may not be found out. We will continue to look for them," Ajay KC said.

Footage showed some relatives weeping and waiting for the bodies of their loved ones outside a hospital where autopsies are being conducted in Pokhara.

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On Monday, officials found the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the flight, both in good condition, a discovery that is likely to help investigators determine what caused the crash.

Under international aviation rules, the crash investigation agencies of the countries where the plane and engines were designed and built are automatically part of the inquiry.

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