5 people die in helicopter crash in mountains northwest of Nepal's capital

(7 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nuwakot, Nepal - 7 August 2024
1. Various of police and army rescuers searching crash site
2. A piece of wreckage
3. Various of passenger belongings scattered around crash site
4. Various of locals and rescue officers on site
5. Close of wreckage
6. Various of officers carrying pieces of helicopter
7. SOUNDBITE: (Nepali) Bir Bahadur Tamang, local village leader:
“I came up here as soon as I heard the crash. By the time I arrived I saw at least four bodies that were charred while the last one appeared to have been ejected and landed below. The helicopter was totally broken into pieces. The only piece I could see intact was the rear rotor of the helicopter."
8. A piece of the wreckage
9. Wide of crash site with rescuers
10. Bodies covered in plastic sheets
11. Crash site covered with fog
12. Soldiers on site
13. Various of body being carried out
STORYLINE:
All five people on board a helicopter were killed when it crashed into the mountains northwest of Nepal’s capital on Wednesday.

The bodies of four men and a woman were pulled from the wreckage, said Krishna Prasad Humagai, the government administrator of Nuwakot district.

Police and army rescuers reached the area and two rescue helicopters were also sent to assist in the operation, the official said.

The crash site is in the Suryachaur area, which is just northwest of Kathmandu, on a mountain covered by the forest.

The helicopter had taken off from Kathmandu international airport at 1:54 p.m. local time and was heading towards the town of Syaprubeshi.

The helicopter, an Eurocopter AS350 belonging to Nepal-based Air Dynasty, lost contact with the tower just three minutes after takeoff, according to a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

The four passengers were Chinese nationals, and the pilot was a Nepali man, officials said.

The accident came two weeks after a passenger plane crashed just after taking off from the Kathmandu airport, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot, who was the lone survivor.

AP video by Upendra Man Singh

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