Last body found at Nepal plane crash site

KATHMANDU: With the last dead body found on Tuesday morning, all the 22 bodies left in a Nepal passenger plane crash have been recovered and also found the flight's voice recorder, the Nepal Army said.

"Last dead body has been recovered. Arranging to bring remaining 12 dead bodies from crash site to Kathmandu," tweeted Brigadier General Narayan Silwal, spokesman of the Nepal Army, which was leading the search and rescue effort.

A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said the plane had only the voice recorder to preserve ground to air and air to air conversations. Modern planes have two such "black boxes" - a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder.

A preliminary study shows bad weather conditions caused the Twin Otter plane to crash in a remote hilly area in Nepal's Mustang district, but the details will be investigated by a five-member investigation team, Deo Chandra Lal Karn told Xinhua.

"Nothing except the wreckage is left at the crash site now," Deo Chandra Lal Karna said. "All the bodies and the black box have been recovered."

The Tara Air plane went missing on Sunday morning minutes after it took off from the Nepali city of Pokhara on a journey to Jomsom in Mustang district. Nineteen passengers, including 13 Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans, were aboard the flight along with three crew members.

The Nepal Army found the crash site on Monday morning with 21 bodies recovered and 10 airlifted to Kathmandu on the day.

-- BERNAMA