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An Australian passenger on a plane that crashed into a gorge near a popular Nepalese resort town is an avid surfer and traveler from Sydney.
Myron William Love was aboard the ATR 72 Yeti Airlines flight when it crashed while landing at a newly opened airport in the central tourist city of Pokhara on Sunday.
Nepalese authorities have confirmed the deaths of at least 68 of the 72 people on board.
However, there are unconfirmed reports that several people survived, albeit badly injured, and Mr. Love’s family is still hopeful.
Love was among 15 foreign nationals aboard the domestic flight from Kathmandu, along with five Indians, four Russians, one Irish national, two South Koreans, one French national and one Argentine.
Sydney man Myron Love (pictured) was aboard the Yeti Airlines flight when it crashed in Nepal on Sunday.
Rescuers gather today at the plane crash site in Pokhara
Crowds gather at the crash site of a plane carrying 72 people in Pokhara, western Nepal.
The horrific accident was the worst air disaster for the small Himalayan nation in three decades.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted Monday afternoon: “Incredibly sad news from Nepal about a plane crash with many passengers on board.
“The government knows that an Australian was on board and is urgently seeking information from Nepali officials on the welfare of that passenger.”
That message was reiterated by senior officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
A relative of Love declined to comment until Australian embassy officials confirm his fate. We won’t say anything until the consulate has confirmed the body.
According to social media posts, Mr Love is an avid traveler and sports enthusiast with a passion for cycling, surfing, and photography.
Her Instagram account is full of beautiful travel photos that include mountain ranges, fields, lakes, and pastel sunsets.
The latest photos of Mr Love posted online show him celebrating the New Year in Thailand with a group of friends, cycling through the countryside and drinking beers in a Chiang Mai bar.
The images were shared just six days ago by a friend of Mr Love. “And so we’re back in the shop today after another epic cycling/eating/drinking holiday in the beautiful mountains of Thailand.”
A photo posted on Instagram shows Mr. Love enjoying a New Years trip to Thailand with friends.
Harrowing footage showed the doomed plane making a sharp turn before plummeting to the ground seconds later with a loud thud, followed by screams.
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescuers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting to set up a panel to investigate the disaster.
He also urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.
Rescue operations are underway. The weather was clear,” said Jagannath Niroula, a spokesman for Nepal’s civil aviation authority, which confirmed the latest death toll at 64.
Elsewhere, Gurudatta Dhakal, deputy head of Kaski district, said some survivors had been taken to hospital.
Hundreds of rescuers continue to scour the hillside site where the plane went down.
The plane, operated by the national carrier Yeti Airlines (pictured), was 15 years old, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
It is reported that 44 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of the plane.
Local television showed rescuers fighting against the broken parts of the aircraft. Part of the ground near the crash site was scorched, with visible flames.
“The plane is burning,” police officer Ajay KC said, adding that rescuers were having difficulty reaching the site in a gorge between two hills near the resort town’s airport.
Located 200 km west of the capital of Nepal, Pokhara is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular trekking route in the Himalayas.
Its new international airport began operations a fortnight ago.
The aircraft made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50 am (0505 GMT), the aviation authority said in a statement. Then it crashed.
“Half of the plane is on the hillside,” said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he arrived at the site minutes after the plane crashed. The other half has fallen into the Seti River Gorge.
Khum Bahadur Chhetri said that he watched from the roof of his house as the flight approached.
Neighbors look at the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara
Life in the central Pokhara complex has come to a standstill after today’s shocking accident.
Hundreds of onlookers flocked to the crash site, where the wreckage of the plane was engulfed in flames.
“I saw the plane shaking, moving from left to right, and then suddenly its nose dipped and it went into the gorge,” Chhetri told Reuters, adding that local residents took two passengers to a hospital.
The accident is the deadliest in Nepal since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
In May 2022, all 22 people died on board a plane operated by the Nepalese airline Tara Air, including 16 Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans, when it crashed on a slope.
There were 72 people on the ATR 72 twin-engine plane operated by Yeti in Sunday’s disaster, including two babies and four crew members, the Sudarshan Bartaula airline spokesman said.
The plane was 15 years old, according to the FlightRadar24 flight tracking website.
“We hope to recover more bodies,” said army spokesman Krishna Bhandari. The plane has been broken into pieces.
The Russian ambassador to Nepal, Alexei Novikov, confirmed the deaths of four Russians on board the crashed plane.
‘Unfortunately, four citizens of the Russian Federation died. We are in constant contact with the Nepalese authorities and will provide all necessary assistance to the relatives of the dead Russians,’ he said.
So far, rescuers have recovered the remains of 44 people from the crash site, with many more missing.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was “deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident” and held an emergency cabinet meeting.
A South Korean embassy official said: ‘Two South Koreans are on the passenger list. We are trying to confirm if they were actually on board and their identities.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was “deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident.”
Nepal’s Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted his condolences.
“The loss of life in a tragic plane crash in Nepal is extremely regrettable. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the mourners,” the official said.
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song also expressed his surprise.
‘At this difficult time, our thoughts are with the Nepali people. I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims and my deepest condolences to the bereaved families,” he wrote.
The ATR72 is a widely used twin-engine turboprop aircraft manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Leonardo of Italy. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 aircraft, according to its website.
Plane crashes are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly, creating dangerous conditions.
Thick columns of smoke followed after the tragic accident.
The plane crashed into a gorge after taking off from Pokhara International Airport.
Prime Minister Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
Nepal’s airline industry has thrived in recent years, transporting goods and people between hard-to-reach areas, as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has been plagued with poor security due to insufficient training and maintenance.
The European Union has banned all Nepalese carriers from its airspace for security reasons.
The Himalayan country also has some of the most remote and tricky tracks in the world, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that challenge even expert pilots.
Aircraft operators have said that Nepal lacks the infrastructure to make accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with challenging mountainous terrain where fatal accidents have occurred in the past.
The weather can also change rapidly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.