Six killed in Nepal tourist helicopter crash

Kathmandu, July 11 : Six people, including five Mexican tourists and a Nepali pilot, were killed after their helicopter crashed on Tuesday in a mountain district in eastern Nepal, the authorities said.

“The five passengers and a pilot in the helicopter have lost their lives in the crash,” Jagannath Niroula, spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.

He said all five passengers are Mexicans and the tourist helicopter was found to have hit a tree.

The Manang Air chopper lost contact with the ground 15 minutes after it took off from Surke in Solukhumbu district for the capital city of Kathmandu, and it was found crashed in the Lamjura area of the district, according to Chief District Officer Basant Bhattarai.

The security forces and the locals deployed for the search and rescue operation had retrieved the bodies, but a helicopter sent for the operation had not reached the crash site due to bad weather, Niroula said.

“Attempts are being made to bring the bodies to Kathmandu,” he added.