Passenger with Irish passport onboard crashed Nepalese plane as search resumes

A woman cries as the body of a relative, victim of a plane crash, is brought to a hospital in Pokhara, Nepal, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023 PIC: AP Photo/Yunish Gurung

Police in Nepal have said that it is "unlikely" that there are any survivors from a plane crash which had 68 passengers on board.

A UK citizen holding an Irish passport is believed to be among the passengers involved on the Yeti Airlines flight, which crashed at Pokhara Airport on Sunday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal named Ruan Calum Crighton as the man holding an Irish passport on board.

It is the country’s deadliest aviation accident in three decades.

Speaking to the BBC in the aftermath of the incident, a spokesperson for local police said: ""It's unlikely there will be any survivors," before adding that body parts were being found at the crash scene.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told the Irish Examiner: "The Department of Foreign Affairs is aware of reports of the involvement of an Irish citizen in an airplane crash in Nepal, and stands ready to provide consular assistance if requested.”

Scores of rescue workers and onlookers crowded near the steep gorge as rescuers combed the wreckage on the edge of the cliff and in the ravine below.

Local resident Bishnu Tiwari, who rushed to the crash site to help search with the search, said rescue efforts were hampered because of thick smoke and a raging fire that engulfed the aircraft.

“The flames were so hot that we couldn’t go near the wreckage,” he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident.

A witness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began to attempt a landing. Gaurav Gurung said the plane fell nose-first towards its left and then crashed into the gorge.

Rescue workers recover the body of a victim of a passenger plane that crashed in Pokhara, PIC: AP Photo/Yunish Gurung

It was carrying 68 passengers, including 15 foreign nationals, as well as four crew members, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, has a history of air crashes.

According to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety database, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in the country since 1946.

Last year, 22 people died when a plane crashed on a mountainside in Nepal.