Fishtail Air chopper crashes in Humla; one dead, three injured

Fishtail Air chopper crashes in Humla; one dead, three injured

• Four of a family perished in landslide

NEPALGUNJ, JUN 19 - A person was killed and three others sustained critical injuries when a Fishtail Air chopper on a rescue mission crash ed on the banks of the Karnali River in Humla district on Wednesday afternoon.

Civil Aviation Authority station manager at Humla Tek Bahadur Tapali was killed in the crash . The ill-fated helicopter with six people onboard was returning after transporting a rescue to Muchu-9 in Hilsa village near the border of Tibet. The team was sent for rescue of people affected by landslides.

Goma Airlines employee Govinda Lama, Fishtail Air employee Dilok Shrestha and Russian pilot David have been sent to Simikot Hospital for treatment. Goma Airlines pilot Prajwal Bhattarai and co-pilot Yadi Sherpa escaped unscathed, said Humla police.

The accident site is 41 miles away from Simikot, the headquarters of Humla district.

According to police inspector at District Police Office Humla, Yubaraj Chaudhari, the chopper’s tail caught fire after the crashbut it extinguished later. 

Four of a family perished in landslide

Meanwhile, police have recovered four bodies of a single family who died after their house collapsed due to landslide in Hilsa village. The bodies have been sent to Simikot for postmortem.

The deceased have been identified as Camma Lama, 35, his six-year-old daughter, Hitka Lama, another daughter, Chirichito, 4, and two-year-old son.

According to police station in-charge, Shiva Wali, a team of 27 personnel have been deployed for rescue.