Pokhara plane crash could hit Nepal’s tourism industry hard
The wreckage of an aeroplane that crashed in Pokhara, Nepal, on Sunday, January 15, 2023. Photo: Radhika Khatiwada/RSS 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,” s...