Kathmandu [Nepal], July 26 : Three days after the fatal air crash at the premises of Tribhuvan International Airport, which killed 18 people, the Nepali authorities have started handing over the bodies of the victims to their family members from Friday onwards.
Out of 18 bodies, five were handed over to the families for cremation from the morgue of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) upon completion of the autopsy.
As per officials, the identity of victims was established under 'Disaster Victim Identification' (DVI).
Families and relatives of those who died in the aircraft of domestic carrier Saurya Airlines received the bodies after a long wait and completing the arduous paperwork.
A total of 25 doctors were stationed at the mortuary of the TUTH to expedite the process and hand over the bodies for cremation. Before the formal handover, authorities have called family members of the victims for identification.
"A total of 5 bodies has been handed over to the respective families for cremation. Uddav Puri, Ashmin Niraula, Shyam Bindukar, Sushant Katuwal and Rajaram Acharya's bodies were received by the family members today. More bodies will be handed over tomorrow," Amar Thapa, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Maharajgunj, told ANI.
A total of 18 people died when a Saurya Airlines aircraft crashed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24.
A total of 19 people, including two crew members, were on the Pokhara-bound flight that took off from Kathmandu.
According to the Tribhuvan International Airport, the CRJ7 (Reg-9NAME) of Saurya Airlines took off from Kathmandu at 11:11 am (local time) during the flight to Pokhara, turned right and crashed at a place on the east side of the runway.
The fire was reportedly brought under control and rescue work was started immediately.
The bodies of 18 people were recovered and one injured person was rescued and taken to the hospital.
The pilot of the Saurya Airlines plane that crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu is the lone survivor of the crash.
The plane 9N-AME (CRJ 200) was only carrying technical staff of the airline, with no passengers on board. Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at TIA, confirmed that the plane was carrying a few technical staff members.
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