Kathmandu: Five bodies have been recovered from the accident site of a private commercial helicopter carrying six people that crashed in hilly terrain near Mount Everest in Nepal on Tuesday, a media report said.
The Manang Air NA-MV chopper took off from Surke Airport in Solukhumbu district at 10:04 am for Kathmandu and suddenly lost contact at an altitude above 12,000 feet at 10:13 am, said Gyanendra Bhul, Manager at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
The helicopter crashed in the Lamjura area of Likhupike Rural Municipality in the remote mountainous Solukhumbu district. A detailed report is yet to come as a rescue operation is underway, said a senior official at TIA.
According to police, the helicopter met with the accident at approximately 3500 meters above sea level in the Lamjura Pass, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.
“Five bodies have been recovered from the accident site and a search operation is underway,” the report quoted police as saying.
Five Mexican nationals and pilot Chet B Gurung were aboard the helicopter.
