KATHMANDU, Nepal - The passengers on board a doomed flight that crashed on its way to Mount Everest could be heard screaming inside the cabin but rescuers were unable to get them out as flames engulfed the aircraft.
POWERFUL NEPAL QUAKE KILLS 449
A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude struck west of
the ancient Nepali capital of Kathmandu today causing buildings to collapse,
injuring many and leaving a pall of dust over the city, witnesses said.The death toll from a powerful quake that struck Nepal on Saturday has risen to 449, most of it in the Kathmandu Valley, police said.
“The number of dead so far is 449,” police deputy inspector
general Kamal Singh Bam said.At the main hospital in Kathmandu, people with broken limbs and arms were being rushed in for treatment. It was unclear how many people were injured.
A Reuters reporter in Kathmandu said he had seen some buildings collapse and walls of several houses reduced to rubble.
An historic tower built in the 19th century in Kathmandu collapsed, trapping at least 50 people, Nepal media reported.
The Dharara Tower, built in 1832, had been open to visitors for the last 10 years and had a viewing balcony on its eighth floor.
Tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and other northern cities in India, with reports of tremors lasting almost one minute.
“Massive tremors have been felt here in Delhi and several other parts of India,” said a newsreader on NDTV in Delhi.
Source: Reuters
NEPAL JET CRASHED KILLING 19
KATHMANDU, Nepal - The passengers on board a doomed flight that crashed on its way to Mount Everest could be heard screaming inside the cabin but rescuers were unable to get them out as flames engulfed the aircraft.
Witnesses to Friday's crash in Kathmandu which killed 19 people, including 12 foreigners, recounted how they rushed to the scene as the Sita Air plane came down in flames in the Nepalese capital.
- "We could hear people inside the aircraft screaming, but we couldn't throw water at the plane to put out the fire because we were scared that the engines were about to explode," said Tulasha Pokharel, one of the first on the scene.
- Pokharel, a 26-year-old housewife living near the Manohara River, told AFP she was picking vegetables around daybreak when she looked up and saw an aircraft which looked like it was flying too slowly.
- "There was a fire near one of its wings and the aircraft's body was shaking. The plane moved towards the river for landing and it had almost landed at the river but it slipped off course and moved towards the land.
- "At first, I was optimistic that the pilot could manage to land the aircraft on the water and hopeful that some of the passengers would survive."
- But as she realised that the plane was about to crash, she began to fear that she herself could become a victim.
"I was very scared and nervous. I thought that the plane would come towards us and hit us."
Pokharel said she and her husband were so close they could hear people inside the aircraft screaming moments before impact.
"The pilot tried his best to make an emergency landing. If he had managed it, then we could have rescued some of the passengers," she added.
"The pilot tried his best to make an emergency landing. If he had managed it, then we could have rescued some of the passengers," she added.
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