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KATHMANDU, Jan. 24 (AP) — Nepalese authorities have handed over the remains of 60 of the 72 people killed in a plane crash last week to relatives, the airline said.
Rescuers were still searching for two bodies after a Yeti Air flight with 72 people on board crashed in the resort town of Pokhara, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, on Jan. 15.
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Of the 10 other bodies recovered, six have been identified and will be returned to relatives soon, while four others still need to be identified, the airline said in a statement late Monday.
The twin-engine ATR 72-500 crashed into a canyon as it approached Pokhara International Airport at the foot of the Himalayas. The crash site was about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) from the runway at an altitude of about 820 meters (2,700 feet).
While the cause of the crash was not immediately clear, some aviation experts said video from the ground in the plane’s final moments showed the plane stalling, but the cause was unclear.
The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority also said the airport’s instrument landing system will not be operational until February 26, eight weeks after the airport started operations on January 1. Aviation safety experts said the absence reflected Nepal’s poor aviation safety record as the mountainous terrain and resulting changeable weather conditions made flying conditions difficult.
The crash was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed into a mountain while trying to land in Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board. Since 1946, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal, according to the Safety Matters Foundation. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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