Four of the five Indians, who were killed in a plane crash in Nepal on January 15 were live on Facebook minutes before the aircraft crashed into a river gorge while landing in Pokhara.
The four people from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district were identified as Sonu Jaiswal, Anil Rajbhar, Abhishek Kushwaha and Vishal Sharma. Excited to share their experience on the flight, one of them can be heard saying ‘Mauj Kar Di’ in the 1:30-minute video, which is doing rounds on social media. It shows the aircraft taking a sharp turn and then bursting into flames as the camera keeps rolling.
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The Hindu could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
A relative of Sonu Jaiswal said he had gone to pay obeisance at the famed Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a son was fulfilled around six months ago.
Jaiswal has two daughters and he took a vow to visit the Lord Pashupatinath Temple if he had a son, his relative and Chak Jainab village head Vijay Jaiswal told PTI.
“Sonu and his three friends had gone to Nepal on January 10. His main purpose was to pay obeisance to Lord Pashupatinath as his wish to have a son, now six months old, has been fulfilled. But fate had something else in store for him,” said a visibly emotional Vijay Jaiswal.
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Sharma belonged to Alawalpur Chatti village in the Badesar area of the district, Jaiswal had houses in Chak Jainab and Alawalpur Chatti but was currently living in Sarnath, a police spokesperson said. Rajbhar was a resident of Chak Jainab in the Badesar area and Kushwaha of Dharwa in the Nonhara area of Ghazipur, he said.
Asked about the fifth Indian in the plane, who was identified as Sanjay Jaiswal, the police spokesperson said he might have his roots in Ghazipur but it could not be confirmed yet.
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68 passengers were killed when the aircraft they were in crashed before landing at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal, civil aviation sources in Kathmandu have confirmed. The aircraft belonging to Yeti Airlines had 72 passengers including four crew members and at least fifteen foreigners on board. Officials said that four bodies are yet to be recovered.
(With agency inputs)
