Nepal plane crash: Cremation of 4 Indians, 16 Nepalese nationals performed today
Jun 02, 2022
Kathmandu [Nepal], June 2 : The final rites of the victims of the Tara Air crash which included 4 Indian and 16 Nepali were performed today.
The final rites were performed at various locations in Kathmandu after the authorities performed autopsies on the body of the victims and handed them over to the family members of the victims.
The cremation of Indian nationals Vaibhawi Bandekar, Ashok Kumar Tripathi, DhanushTripathi and, Ritika Tripathi from Mumbai, Maharastra was performed at Pashupatinath Temple in Nepali capital Kathmandu later in the afternoon on Thursday.
"We have cremated the bodies at the electric crematorium that lies in the Pashupatinath Temple area here in Kathmandu. We will return to India tomorrow. I lost my brother and his entire family in the crash, they were here on vacation," said Rajen Tripathi, brother of Ashok Kumar while talking to ANI as he waited for the body at the morgue.
Bodies of the victims were ferried to the capital Kathmandu on Monday and Tuesday by Nepal Army MI-17 helicopters for their autopsies, following which a mass cremation ceremony was held at the Swayambhu area of the capital Kathmandu to cremate those without kins.
The victims hailed from the Dhanusha district in the Southern plains of Nepal and also happened to go out on a family vacation to Muktinath Temple.
Makar Bahadur Tamang, Sukumaya Tamang, Rajan Gole, Indra BahadurGole, Ram Maya Gole, Purushottam Gole and Tulasha Devi Tamang were from single family who lost their lives on the slopes of Mustang district.
"They were from the same family. The father, elder daughter and son-in-law, youngest daughter and son-in-law, elder son and daughter-in-law and a grandchild all died in the crash," Hari Lama, a relative of the deceased Gole family told ANI.
Few members of the Gole family who couldn't travel along with the deceased at the time of the crash survived, the relative informed.
According to the relatives, the family had planned for a trip to Mustang for months and had finally been to the pilgrimage site when the disaster struck the family.
Tara Air twin-otter aircraft which was more than two decades old crashed onto the hillside of Mustang District on Sunday, killing all 22 people on board which included 13 Nepali, 4 Indian, 2 German nationals and 3 crew members.
The wreckages of the Twin Otter were found on Monday on a cliff beneath the Manapathi Peak. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, those on the plane were Captain Prabhakar Prasad Ghimire, co-pilot UtsavPokhrel, air hostess KismiThapa, passengers IndraBahadurGole, PurushottamGole, Rajan Kumar Gole, Basant Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Raveena Shrestha, Rashmi Shrestha, Rozina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuar, MakarBahadurTamang, RammayaTamang, SukamayaTamang, Tulasa Devi Tamang. Mick Grat and YuviWilner were two German nationals who were on board the ill-fated aircraft.
Mustang is one of the mountainous and fifth-largest districts of the Himalayan nation which hosts the pilgrimage of Muktinath Temple. The district is also known as "Land beyond the Himalayas" is located in the Kali Gandaki valley of the Himalayan region of Western Nepal.
Mustang (from the Tibetan Muntan meaning "fertile plain") the traditional region is largely dry and arid. The world's deepest gorge that goes down three miles vertical between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountains runs through this district.
