Kathmandu– A chopper carrying senior government officials has crashed, killing Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari, and six others.
A helicopter carrying seven passengers including Minister Adhikari crashed in Pathibhara, Taplejung, and eastern Nepal. Nepal Police Spokesperson Uttam Raj Subdei told Face-Face that all dead bodies have been retrieved from crash site.
The deceased have been identified as Minister Adhikari, Yubraj Dahal, Ang Tshering Sherpa, Captain Prabhakar KC and Minister Adhikari’s bodyguard Arjun Ghimire, Deputy Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Birendra Shrestha and CAAN’s regional director Dhruba Das.
The helicopter carrying the team went for a feasibility study of an airport at Chuhandanda, Tehrathum crashed, killing all on board. The Ministry of Home Affairs, through a press conference today, confirmed the deaths of all seven including the minister and a captain in the crash. Ministry of Home Affairs has said that crash happened due to the bad weather.
The incident site is remote and two helicopters of Nepali Army have already left for the crash site to bring the mortal remains to Kathmandu. The team was returning to Kathmandu after visiting the temple of Hindu deity Pathibhara in Taplejung following the completion of the programme at Chuhandanda, Tehrathum. The accident site lies just in a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the temple.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress (NC) has expressed deep grief over the loss of lives of seven persons including Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Rabindra Adhikari, in a helicopter crash occurred in Taplejung district on Wednesday. Issuing a press statement, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba said he regarded Minister Adhikari as a person who had struggled a lot since his student life and went on to become a Minister.
