After the inauguration of Pokhara Regional International Airport, locals stopped seeing aircraft flying above Prithvi Chok in the country’s tourism capital. But on Sunday, the scenes were different as a Yeti Airlines aircraft not only flew above the area but crashed in a gorge near a densely populated area of the city. Babar Jung Gurung was on his terrace when he saw an uncontrolled aircraft turn to one side. By the time he could think what was going wrong, he heard an explosion. “I rushed to the site and there was fire and smoke everywhere,” he said. “The aircraft had broken in half. It was chaotic. I had never seen anything like it.” According to another local Bikas Basyal, the aircraft crashed into the top of the gorge, after which the loud noise came. “Bodies were flying everywhere along with the parts of the aircraft. It was like a scene from a movie,” says Basyal.
As soon as that happened, there was smoke everywhere. The aircraft was burning in such a manner that the sky was full of smoke and news of the crash spread like wildfire. Following that, the incident site was chaotic. People from all over Pokhara were there to see what had happened. Some helped the local security forces in the rescue process, but many were there just to see what was going on as they stood there taking videos obstructing the rescue. So far, only 68 out of the 72 bodies have been found. Out of those only 26 have been identified. While people outside the city will gradually forget the Pokhara plane crash, stakeholders here are concerned about the impact the incident could have on the city’s, as well as the country’s, prosperous tourism industry. Many fear that these crashes will be detrimental to the industry, which is gradually getting back on its feet after the coronavirus pandemic.
