Friday, October 17, 2008

Plane crash in Nepal kills 18, official says


A small airplane crashed and caught fire Wednesday as it tried to land in foggy weather at a tiny mountain airport near Mount Everest, killing 18 people, including 16 tourists from Germany, Australia and Nepal, officials said.
Witnesses raced onto the tarmac in search of survivors but only one person, the pilot, survived.
The 19-seat Yeti Airlines DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, which had taken off from the capital, Katmandu, snagged its wheels on a security fence during its landing at Lukla airport, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Mount Everest, said Mohan Adhikari, general manager of the Katmandu airport.
The plane caught fire and came to a stop within the airport grounds, Adhikari said.
A fog had descended on the airport just before the crash, said Suraj Kunwar, who was at Lukla waiting for a flight when the crash happened.
"Suddenly there was a big bang, and flames came out of the plane," he said, adding that people rushed from the airport terminal to help, but it was quickly clear there was little they could do.
"All the passengers waiting for planes ran to help douse the flames, but the passengers were already dead," he said.
Adhikari said 19 people were on board the plane, including 12 German, two Australian and two Nepalese tourists. There were also three Nepalese crew members, including a pilot, co-pilot and flight attendant. The pilot was flown to Katmandu and hospitalized in critical condition though Vijay Shreshta, executive director of Yeti Airlines, said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
The visibility at the airport was about 1,310 feet (400 meters), just enough for the aircraft's landing, he said.
The bodies of the crash victims were flown back to Katmandu by military helicopter and were unloaded by soldiers wearing jungle camouflage.
The tiny Lukla airport, little more than a runway carved from the side of the Himalayas at an altitude of 2,800 meters (9,200 feet), is an important jumping-off point for trekkers beginning their hikes and mountaineers heading to Everest.
The walk takes several days from there to Mount Everest Base Camp.
The airport is famous among travelers for its dramatic scenery, its stomach-lurching landings — and its occasional crashes. The end of the runway has a steep drop of a few hundred meters (feet).
In 2005, nine passengers and three crew members survived a crash in a small Gorkha Airlines plane with minor injuries.

Street vendors announce agitation against administration

Protesting against the administration’s step to remove the market from roadsides in the capital, street vendors on Friday announced a week long agitation starting from Saturday.
The vendors charged the administration that their footpath stalls were removed without providing them with any alternative and demanded that they should be allowed to run their business along the roadsides.
Amidst a press meet in the capital today, the street vendors of three districts in the Kathmandu Valley who have been deprived of the footpath and public places to run their business, publicised one week protest programme today.
The protest will be carried out phase wise. At first phase, memorandum will be submitted to the Constituent Assembly chairman on October 19.
Then after they plan to gherao the district administration offices on October 21, organise a torch rally the day after and eventually call for the Valley shut down on October 23.

Prachanda flunks governance test


Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ today admitted that the Maoist-led government has failed in bringing about “desired good governance”.The PM owned up to the shortcomings during an interaction with select civil society members. He, however, waxed eloquent on the Maoists’ stellar role on the political front.“We are yet to bring about desired changes. Corruption and irregularities are still rampant in the administration. People are denied of timely service. The man on the street wants change, but it has remained elusive due to various bottlenecks,” said Charan Prasain, a human rights activist, quoting the PM.Prachanda briefed the visitors about the government’s imminent task: To expedite the statute-drafting process and integrate the PLA combatants into Nepal Army.“The integration will help the drafting of the constitution as many are sceptical of it,” said Prof Krishna Pokhrel, quoting Prachanda.The PM also dwelt on the government’s intention to convince the main opposition Nepali Congress to join the ruling coalition. “This will help the drafting of the constitution,” he said.Dahal also hinted at the government’s move to set up six commissions, including ones on restructuring and disappearance before Tihar. “Bureaucratic reshuffle, too, is on the anvil,” the PM told the visitors. The civil society members, in turn, urged Dahal to look into the human rights record. Home Minister Bamdev Gautam’s rigid posturing in the name of reformsalso came in for scathing criticism. Former SC justice Laxman Prasad Aryal requested the PM to refrain from interference in the judiciary. Justice Aryal is in favour of segregation of the constitution-drafting process and the legislative work in the CA. Seventeen civil society members attended the programme at the PM’s residence in Baluwatar.