Nepal Plane Crash: Families Receive Bodies Amid Compensation Debate

Seventeen victims of the Saurya Airlines crash in Nepal were handed to relatives after initial refusals over compensation. One body, that of Yemeni national Aref Reda, remains. Most bodies were identified by Friday. The lone survivor, Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, has been moved to a general ward.

Bodies of 17 out of the 18 persons killed in the deadly plane crash in Nepal were handed over to their relatives on Saturday. This came a day after some families refused to accept the corpses, demanding clarity on compensation and insurance.

The remaining body is that of Aref Reda, a Yemeni national, who was among the 19 people on board a Pokhara-bound aircraft of Saurya Airlines that crashed shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) here and caught fire on Wednesday.

Apart from the pilot – who is the lone survivor – and the co-pilot, the flight was carrying technical staff of the airline, and a child and his mother.

According to Deputy Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, all the bodies except for the body of Aref Reda have been handed over to the family members, The Kathmandu Post said.

Most of the bodies were identified by Friday and five of them were collected by the respective kin. However, there had been issues in identifying the severely charred bodies.

A large team of doctors worked to identify the victims as quickly as possible, according to officials.

Relatives of the remaining deceased persons, who had earlier refused to receive the bodies demanding the government and airlines guarantee compensation and insurance issues first, accepted the bodies after officials promised to address their concerns.

Earlier on Friday, Saurya Airlines had committed to provide as much support as possible to the victims' kin.

"We assure the victims' families that we will provide all possible support and assistance," the report said, citing a statement by Saurya Airlines chairman Dipak Kumar Pokharel.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the crashed aircraft, Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, who is the lone survivor, was shifted to a general ward from the intensive care unit (ICU) following improvement in his health condition, the newspaper said quoting Professor Dr. Meena Thapa, director of Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital.

According to Nepal's civil aviation body, it is the 105th plane crash in Nepali skies since the first disaster in August 1955, the report said.

(With inputs from agencies.)