Buddha Aircraft accident update: Seven passengers including co-pilot injured

Jhapa, Jan 3: Seven passengers, including a crew member were injured in a Buddha Aircraft accident occurred at Bhadrapur Airport at 9.10 pm on Friday. 

The ATR 72 aircraft of Buddha Air with call sign 901, which took off from Kathmandu for Bhadrapur, met with accident after overrunning 300 meters at the eastern part of the runway while landing at Bhadrapur Airport, according to preliminary information provided by Superintendent of Police at Jhapa District Police Office, Rajan Limbu. 

There were 51 passengers, four crew members and one aircraft engineer on board. 

Among them, co-pilot 24-year-old Sushant Shrestha from Lalitpur-4 and six other passengers were injured. 

The injured include 40-year-old Sabin Jogi from Bhadrapur-10, 20-year-old Presika Adhikari from Birtamod-7, 42-year-old Sumitra Jogi from Birtamod-1, 28-year-old Kamalprasad Kutuwal from Damak-1, 40-year-old Muna Ghatani from Kathmandu-16 and 16-year-old Priya Ghatani from Kathmandu-16, according to police. 

The injured were immediately taken to Omsai Pathibhara Hospital in Bhadrapur for treatment by the Nepal Police rescue team. 

The 24-year-old co-pilot Sushant Shrestha, who sustained head and facial injuries, is receiving treatment at the hospital, while six other injured individuals have returned home after receiving minor treatment, informed SP Limbu. 

The aircraft had departed from Kathmandu for Bhadrapur at 8:23 pm on Friday and crashed during landing at Bhadrapur Airport at 9:10 pm due to overshooting. 

Immediately following the crash, a team of 70 police under the command of SP Rajan Limbu from the Jhapa District Police Office was mobilized for rescue, according to police reports. 

The police successfully evacuated all passengers from the crashed aircraft and took the injured to the hospital. (RSS)