Rescuers used drones and abseiled down a deep gorge yesterday looking for the last missing person from Nepal’s worst air disaster in 30 years, in which at least 71 people died including small children.
Difficult terrain around the 200 metre gorge and poor weather was hampering rescue efforts near the tourist city of Pokhara, where the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 turboprop carrying 72 people crashed on Sunday just before landing.
The search was called off after darkness descended, and will resume today, said Tek Bahadur K.C., a top district official.
Rescue teams were struggling to identify bodies, Ajay K.C, a police official in Pokhara who is part of the rescue efforts, told Reuters.
Rescuers had collected what appeared to be human remains and sent them for a DNA test, he said, but search efforts would continue until all 72 passengers and crew were accounted for.
Search teams found 68 bodies on the day of the crash, while two bodies were recovered on Monday before the search was called off.
One more body had been recovered as of late yesterday afternoon. An official said 48 bodies were sent to a hospital for autopsies, while 22 bodies were being handed over to families in Pokhara.
