Kin of Nepali passengers receive bodies

KATHMANDU, Sept 30: The kin of five Nepali passengers who died in Friday´s Sita Air crash received their dead bodies on Sunday. The bodies were identified on the basis of dental data and personal belongings of the dead.

According to Dr Harihar Wasti, head of Forensic Department at Tribuvan University Teaching Hospital, the bodies of crew members, Captain Bijaya Tandukar, co-Pilot Takeshi Thapa, airhostess Ruja Shakya, and passengers, Dipen Rai and Madan Kumari Tamang, were handed to their kin.

Wu Hui, who was earlier thought be a Chinese citizen, has now been identified as a US citizen and his family members are arriving in Kathmandu to receive the body, according to the department. Dr Wasti said, "The remaining bodies couldn´t be identified till Sunday because of the lack of equipment and sufficient information."

Meanwhile, the problem of keeping dead bodies at mortuary has been solved temporarily. According to the department, four bodies have been kept at the mortuary of US embassy and five have been accommodated at the mortuary of German embassy. The remaining five bodies are at Teaching Hospital.

Seven Nepalis, including three crew members, seven Briton, four Chinese and a US citizen were killed in the crash. Sales and Marketing Manager of Sita Air, Dipendra Shahi, said that the samples have been sent for DNA test to identify other bodies and would take some time to get the reports. Shahi said that the bodies of the foreigners would be handed over only after DNA report arrives.

A probe team that comprises of experts from the UK has started the investigation.

Two aviation experts from the UK have joined the five-member probe team instituted by Nepal government for investigating the crash and the team has started working from Friday.

The panel headed by former tourism secretary Nagendra Prasad Ghimire visited the crash site along with the UK experts, according to Suresh Acharya, joint-secretary of MoCTCA and member secretary of the accident probe team. "Today we surveyed the position of the damaged aircraft and took photographs," he said.

Aided by National Bird Control Committee, the team also inspected the runway where the bird reportedly hit the elevator of the aircraft.

Sunday 30 September 2012

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=42752