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Nepal plane crash: Chilling video shot by passenger moments before disaster shows a 'hellish' scene

In the video, a person looks outside the window happily when the screen suddenly fades to black and then a fire engulfs the inside of the aircraft

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Altogether four friends from India, who were onboard the Yeti Airlines plane that crashed in Nepal's Pokhara on January 15, were recording the descent of the aircraft just moments before disaster struck. One of the men in the video can be heard saying, "It's pretty enjoyable," unaware of the sad fate that awaited him and his friends. The likelihood of discovering any survivors at the scene of the crash in Nepal is decreasing as the black boxes have been found, and officials resumed rescue ops in the early hours of Monday, January 16.

The Yeti Airlines flight, with a call sign 9N-ANC and carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, crashed in Nepal's Kaski district mere minutes after it took off from Kathmandu at 10.30 am local time. Dramatic visuals on social media showed fire and smoke billowing from the crash site. Following the accident, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal convened an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers and instructed the Home Ministry, security officers and other government agencies to speed up rescue and relief activities.

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In the Facebook live video, that reportedly captured Nepal's deadliest aviation accident in decades, everything appears to be normal as the four friends are heard laughing and joking, enjoying the magnificent the view of the Himalayas. There are no emergency statements or cautions from the captain or crew. Suddenly the scene outside a window, which showed the picturesque views, suddenly turns blank as a hand covers the camera lens. This is followed by sounds of people screaming and loud sounds of metal tearing as a fire engulfs everything. All that can be seen after, in the video that has been widely shared on social media by several users, is the fire that has claimed the lives of at least 68 people. 

Bodies of 68 passengers recovered

In its last update, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal informed that 68 bodies had been recovered from the crash site so far. In a tweet, the Civil Aviation Authority also informed that the black box, containing the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) has also been recovered. This is expected to give authorities information about what possibly led to the crash. Among the 68 dead were six children, including three infants. Altogether 25 passengers were female and 37 were male.     

Nepali Publication The Kathmandu Post quoted Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, as saying that the black box had been handed over to the Nepal Army and would be submitted to an investigating team in Kathmandu on January 16.