Photo: PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty
A passenger on the ill-fatedYeti Airlines Flight 691captured footage of the plane’s final moments in the air before he and his friends were involved in the deadly crash.
Friends of Sonu Jaiswal, of India, said the 29-year-old father of threewas live-streamingthe plane’s descent into Nepal on Sunday when theaircraft suddenly crashed, according toThe Guardianand the BBC.
Vishal Koswal, 21, toldThe Guardianthat Jaiswal was on a trip with three other men from Ghazipur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh — Anil Rajbhar, 28, Vishal Sharma, 23, and Abhishek Singh Kushwaha, 23 — whenthe crashoccurred.
Local officials have confirmed the four Indian men are among the victims of Sunday’s crash, according to the outlet.
All 72 people, including six children, onboard the aircraft are presumed dead, per the reports.
Koswal toldThe Guardianthat he spoke with Jaiswal via video call on multiple occasions before the crash. “Sonu was showing us the mountains around on the call and was clearly excited, so were we,” he said.
Originally, Koswal planned to join his friends on the trip to Nepal, but stayed home following the death of a relative. He said his four friends who died in the crash were like “brothers” to him.
“This all seems like a nightmare, I still cannot believe we have lost all of them,” he said, perThe Guardian. “I can’t watch that crash video again, it is very hard and painful. A big tragedy has fallen over us.”
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NBC News reports it has alsoverified the footage as authentic. CNN said itcorroborated the disturbing videobased on geolocation, a flight manifest and information on the Yeti Airlines website.
PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty
Additionally, Dhirendra Pratap Singh of the Bersar Police Station in India hasconfirmed the mens' identitieswith their families, according to CBS News.
Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal declared Monday a national day of mourning, according toThe Guardian.
This is the worst aviation disaster in Nepalsince the 1992 crashin Kathmandu involving Pakistan International Airlines, which left 167 people dead, according toThe Guardianand Reuters.
The European Unionbanned all Nepal-based airlinesfrom its airspace in 2013, citing “safety” concerns, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. But officials in Nepal have been working to reverse the ban.
In Sept. 2022, CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula toldThe Himalayan Timesthat Nepalwould likely be removedfrom theair safety listin the near future.
source: people.com
