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Nepal finds wreckage of missing plane, all 23 dead

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Nepal plane crash

Kathmandu: Rescue teams in Nepal on Wednesday found the burnt-out wreckage of a passenger plane that went missing in a remote mountainous area with 23 people on board, the aviation minister said.

Aananda Prasad Pokharel said the Twin Otter turboprop aircraft had been found in the western district of Myagdi and bodies could be seen scattered around it.

“The wreckage of the plane was found in a completely burnt state in Solighopte in Myagdi district,” said Pokharel, minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation.

“The team there say that the bodies are scattered and it is not possible to identify anyone right now.

“More security agencies are being deployed and we are trying to get more information.”

The army had deployed helicopters and foot soldiers to search Myagdi, a mountainous district around 220 kilometres (160 miles) west of Kathmandu, after locals reported seeing possible wreckage of the Tara Air plane.

The airline said the plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one a Chinese and one a Kuwaiti national, revising an earlier figure of 18 passengers.

All the others were from Nepal and two of them were children.

Tara Air said the Twin Otter had lost contact with air traffic control eight minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara early on Wednesday.

A statement on its website said weather conditions were good when the plane took off for Jomsom, a popular trekking destination in the Himalayas about 20 minutes’ flight from Pokhara.

“The weather at both origin and destination airports was favourable and the airport cleared for departure by the control tower at Pokhara,” it said.

Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a privately-owned domestic carrier founded in 1998 which services many remote destinations across Nepal.

It suffered its last fatal accident in 2010 when a plane chartered by a group of Bhutanese tourists crashed into a mountainside in eastern Nepal.

Experienced pilot

Air travel is popular in Nepal, which has only a limited road network. Many communities, particularly in the mountains and hills, are accessible only on foot or by air.

Aviation expert Kunda Dixit said the area was prone to very strong winds.

“Most flights in the area fly before 9:30am because very strong winds pick up after that,” he told AFP.

“It is very strange because it is a brand-new plane and the weather was clear in the morning. The pilot is very experienced and focused on safety, I flew with him only 10 days ago.”

The country, which is still reeling from a devastating earthquake last April, has in recent years suffered a number of air disasters which dealt a blow to its tourist industry.

Most have been attributed to inexperienced pilots, poor management and inadequate maintenance.

Two years ago a Twin Otter plane belonging to the national carrier Nepal Airlines crashed into a hillside shortly after taking off from Pokhara, killing all 18 people on board.

The country’s aviation sector has come under fire from international authorities and in 2013 the European Union blacklisted all Nepal’s airlines.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said at the time the country’s safety record “does not leave us any other choice”.

Nepal’s last major aviation accident was last May when a US military helicopter assisting with earthquake relief crashed in bad weather, killing six Marines and seven other people.

(Agencies)

Nepal gets first woman president

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Bidhya Devi Bhandari

Kathmandu: Bidhya Devi Bhandari, vice chairman of the ruling CPN-UML, was on Wednesday elected president of Nepal, making her the first woman to occupy the vaunted post.

Bhandari defeated Nepali Congress nominee Kul Bahadur Gurung in the presidential poll to elect the second president of the Himalayan nation, The election result was announced in parliament by Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar.

A former defence minister, Bhandari is a cancer survivor and widow of late communist leader Madan Bhandari, who died in 1991 in a yet unexplained road accident.

The incumbent, Ram Baran Yadav, who belonged to Nepali Congress, was elected president in 2008 after the first elections to the Constituent Assembly.

Under the country’s new republican federal Constitution, promulgated on September 20, it was mandatory to elect new president and vice-president, prime minister, and parliament speaker and deputy speaker.

(IANS)

Nepal passes secular constitution amid protests

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President announces adoption of the charter despite protests against plans to divide the country into seven provinces.

nepal constitution

by Al Jazeera

Nepal has adopted a new constitution aimed at bolstering its transformation from a Hindu monarchy to a secular democracy, as violent protests raged against some of the terms of the charter.

Firecrackers went off on Sunday in celebration in Kathmandu as President Ram Baran Yadav announced the adoption of the constitution, the first to be drafted by elected representatives.

“I announce the presented constitution of Nepal, passed by the Constituent Assembly and authenticated by the chairman of the Constituent Assembly, effective from today, 20 September 2015, before the people of Nepal,” he said.

Members of the parliament approved the charter on Wednesday despite weeks of violent protests against plans to divide the Himalayan nation of 28 million people into seven provinces.

More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and police, among them two children, and a police officer lynched as he was driven to hospital in an ambulance, according to the AFP news agency.

One protester was killed on Sunday when police fired into a crowd of people who had defied a curfew in the southern district of Parsa to demonstrate against the charter.

Criticism

The move to create a new federal structure that will devolve power from the centre has widespread support, but critics say the planned internal borders will leave some historically marginalised groups under-represented in parliament.

They include the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic minorities, mainly from Nepal’s southern plains along the border with India.

India has expressed concern at the violence, which has seen some parts of southern Nepal shut down for weeks.

The new constitution is the final stage in a peace process that began when the Maoists laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long civil war with the state and turned to politics, winning parliamentary elections two years later and abolishing the monarchy.

Nepal police kill protesters amid political unrest

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Clashes during rally against planned new constitution leave at least five demonstrators, who want more autonomy, dead.

More than 20 people have died in protests since those plans were unveiled two weeks ago [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters]

More than 20 people have died in protests since those plans were unveiled two weeks ago [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Police have killed at least five protesters as demonstrators threw stones and petrol bombs, angry at a new planned constitution.

Kamal Singh Bam, a police official, said on Tuesday that officers had shot and killed four demonstrators in the town of Birjung in Parsa district, 60km south of the capital Kathmandu, when a police post was attacked.

In a separate clash with police, a fifth demonstrator was killed in the neighbouring district of Bara, police official Lokendra Malla said, without giving further details.

Under the constitutional proposals, 22 districts in the southern plains, also known as the Tarai, would be joined with provinces that are dominated by mountain dwellers.

The protesters, mostly from the Madhesi and Tharu minority communities, are demanding that their narrow strip of homeland should not be divided into more than two states.

More than 20 people have died in protests since those plans were unveiled two weeks ago, with members of two large plains communities demanding greater autonomy under the charter.

The government and major political parties hope that the constitution, in the works for seven years, will provide much-needed political stability and bolster economic development in the Himalayan nation, which is still reeling from two devastating earthquakes that killed 8,900 people this year.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has called for talks to tackle the problem, but the protesters insist that the constitutional process must be stopped before any dialogue begins.

Adoption of the charter, which requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, would be followed by elections for a new president, prime minister and speaker.

India announces $1 billion aid for Nepal reconstruction

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nepal

Kathmandu: India on Thursday announced $1 billion in aid to rebuild Nepal, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj saying that from “the debris of destruction a stronger united and more confident Nepal will rise”.

The aid will be used in the reconstruction of physical infrastructure as well as some key heritage sites. India’s contribution is almost one seventh of the total requirement of $6.7 billion.

Nepal was hit by a massive 7.9-magnitude earthquake on April 25, leaving over 8,500 people dead and causing widespread devastation.

At the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction here, Sushma Swaraj said: “Nepal is not alone. Today I convey to you the deep and abiding commitment of the government of India and 1.25 billion people of India to stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”

Referring to the operation India undertook to help Nepal, Sushma Swaraj said: “Operation Maitri was our largest ever disaster assistance effort abroad valued at nearly Rs.400 billion.”

“…what is important is not that this support was larger than other foreign countries; what matters is the strong feeling of empathy and the instantaneous, instinctive and heart-felt response from Indians for their Nepali brothers and sisters.”

She said: “From the debris of destruction a stronger united and more confident Nepal will rise.”

Sushma Swaraj hailed Nepal’s efforts in making a major bid to rebuild the nation and said raising $6.7 billion was a challenging task.

“As the oldest and closest friend, India is ready to stand with Nepal,” she said.

“We can do so more meaningfully in areas where our expertise and Nepal’s need match. These include agriculture, housing, roads and transport, electricity, health, education, cultural heritage, and disaster risk reduction.”

Sushma Swaraj announced government of India’s pledge for Nepal’s post-earthquake reconstruction of “Nepali Rupees 10,000 crores, equivalent to $1 billion, one fourth of it as grant. This pledge is over and above our existing bilateral developmental assistance of another $1 billion over the next five years, 40 percent of which would be grant. This takes our total assistance to Nepal over the next five years to $2 billion”.

(IANS)

Indian media makes news in Nepal, for wrong reasons

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NEPAL-EARTHQUAKE

Kathmandu: A section of the Indian media has made news in Nepal — for the wrong reasons.

The electronic media in particular faces charges of sensationalism at a time when the Himalayan nation is recovering from the deadly scars of the April earthquake that left more than 8,500 people dead.

In Kathmandu, few hide their feelings vis-a-vis the Indian media.

“There is a lot of resentment against Indian journalists because of the biased approach they took to cover the tragic event,” Dinesh Gautam, deputy chief executive officer of Probiotech Industries, Nepal’s prominent feed industry, told IANS.

The main reason for the anger towards certain media, especially two prominent Hindi news channels, was the “insensitive” reportage following large-scale deaths and destruction, he said.

The one question which Indian TV reporters kept asking and which is the focus of much of the criticism is: “How are you feeling?”

“What would be your reaction to this question when you lose a family member in a disaster?” banker Nira Shrestha asked this IANS correspondent. She said there should be some sensitivity towards such incidents.

“If somebody is under trauma or lying on a stretcher with multiple injuries, you cannot pose silly questions. This is the main reason for the anger against the Indian media,” Shrestha said.

The oft-repeated remarks by Indian media commentators which created revulsion in Nepal was that it was not the earthquake but the buildings which killed people.
Narrating an incident, Nepalese journalist Ujjwal Risal said one of the survivors was so angry with the questions from journalists that he angrily pushed aside the microphone of a reporter of an Indian news channel.

He said lots of international journalists flocked to Nepal to report on the disaster.

“Though the international media played a major role to get immediate worldwide attention towards the tragedy, it’s only Indian news channels that faced flak. There was no problem with BBC News, CNN, Al Jazeera and even the local ones which also covered the quake widely,” Risal, who has been publishing a fortnightly news magazine for over a decade, told IANS.

Kathmandu-based leading news channel Kantipur Television was operating from a makeshift tent as one of its buildings got damaged.

Local entrepreneur Bhagwati Prasad said: “As Nepal is rebuilding, the Indian media outlets should come back and focus on voluntary agencies — national and international — involved in rehabilitating people. It has shown the heart-rending videos and not the human interest stories.”

Actress Michelle Yeoh, famous for her roles in James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies”, visited quake-hit villages on the outskirts of Kathmandu on May 15-17 to see the rehabilitation work undertaken by ‘Live to Love’ foundation of Buddhist leader Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa Order based in India and Nepal.

“You have to inspire through your writings the international community that quake-ravaged Nepal needs immediate help,” Yeoh told IANS.

(IANS)

5.5 magnitude aftershock in Nepal, minor tremors felt in Bihar, Bengal

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nepal-earthquake

Patna: Minor tremors were felt in several parts of Bihar and West Bengal after an aftershock measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit Nepal this evening.

The tremors were also reported from capital Patna, Siwan, Munger, Darbhanga and Purnea in Bihar. In West Bengal, tremors triggered fresh panic among residents in Siliguri, Malda and elsewhere in north Bengal besides Kolkata.

There are reports of many people running out of their offices and houses on to the streets after the tremors.

The epicenter of today’s aftershock was at a depth of about 10 kilometres in Nepal’s Dolkha, which lies in the same faultzone that has been experiencing several aftershocks since April 25, when a massive earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck the Himalayan nation, killing over 8000 people there and 50 in Bihar.

Just four days ago, on Tuesday, Nepal experienced another quake measuring 7.3 on the Richer scale, which killed 15 people in Bihar.

Search to reach Nepal earthquake survivors resumes

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Rescuers try to reach remote mountain communities as death toll rises to 66 in latest disaster to hit Himalayan nation.

Nepal_earthquake

by Al Jazeera

Rescuers have continued efforts to reach survivors of a deadly new earthquake in Nepal that triggered landslides and brought down buildings, as the search resumed for a US military helicopter that went missing while delivering aid.

Thousands of traumatised survivors woke on Wednesday morning after spending the night outdoors, afraid to return to their houses after the 7.3-magnitude quake, which killed at least 66 people in Nepal and hit less than three weeks after the country was devastated by its deadliest quake in more than 80 years.

The latest disaster took the overall death toll over the past three weeks to more than 8,200 people, and has compounded the already monumental challenge of reaching far-flung mountain communities in desperate need of shelter, food and clean water.

Al Jazeera’s Annette Ekin in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, said that people pitched tents outside on Tuesday night because they were terrified that there would be another quake.

The latest major quake struck the town of Namche Bazaar near the Mount Everest base camp, Nepalese officials said.

Missing rescue helicopter

Nepal’s army resumed its aerial search on Wednesday for a US Marine Corps helicopter that went missing during a disaster relief operation in eastern Nepal, near where the latest quake hit.

The Pentagon has said there may have been a problem with fuel on the chopper, which was carrying six US Marines and two Nepali army soldiers when it disappeared.

“We have been informed that an American helicopter has gone missing, search operations have begun,” said Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, spokesman for the Nepal home ministry.

The Nepalese government said 66 people had been confirmed dead so far in the latest quake, which was centred 76km east of Kathmandu. The quake also killed 17 people in northern India.

“We had been focusing on relief distribution, but from yesterday our resources were deployed for rescue operations again,” he said.

Tuesday’s quake was felt as far away as New Delhi, and caused buildings to collapse in Tibet in neighbouring China, killing at least one person there.

A second tremor of 6.3-magnitude struck Nepal around half an hour later, followed by yet more aftershocks, according to the USGS.

The Nepalese government has acknowledged that it was overwhelmed by the scale of the April 25 disaster, which destroyed nearly 300,000 homes and left many more too dangerous to live in.

“At an hour of a natural disaster like this, we have to face it with courage and patience,” Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said after an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday.

Scientists said Tuesday’s quake was part of a chain reaction set off by the larger one that struck on April 25 in Lamjung district west of Kathmandu.

“Large earthquakes are often followed by other quakes, sometimes as large as the initial one,” said Carmen Solana, a volcanologist at Britain’s University of Portsmouth.

Another massive earthquake: 26 killed in Nepal, eight in Bihar

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NEPAL-EARTHQUAKE

Kathmandu: At least 26 people were killed and over 150 were injured when a big earthquake struck Nepal on Tuesday.

Initial reports reaching here said that 19 people were killed in Dolakha district, located about 170 km from here.

Dolakha is about 130 km from Kodari, the epicentre of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck in the afternoon.

Two five-storeyed buildings collapsed in capital Kathmandu, an official said.

Police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam earlier said that four people were killed in Chautara town in Sindhupalchowk district and three people died in capital Kathmandu.

He said that the number of deaths is likely to go up as they await news from other areas.

A major earthquake on Tuesday jolted Nepal, striking fear among the people and causing panic in a country which was barely recovering from the devastating April 25 temblor.

Cracked buildings collapsed in a heap of debris and landslides cut off roads as an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit Nepal, with its epicentre not far from Mount Everest — the world’s highest peak at 8,848 m.

Terrified people ran out of homes and offices as the buildings began to shake violently due to the earthquake. They ran to open space and parks here.

“It was frightening,” said an eyewitness who clutched her daughter. “It felt worse than last time,” she added

Six strong aftershocks followed in quick succession. Four of the aftershocks were in the epicentre Kodari while the strongest aftershock measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has directed authorities to be on alert for rescue and relief operations.

A tweet from the prime minister’s office said: “PM took stock of the situation following the fresh major earthquake felt in Nepal and parts of India, at a high-level meeting.”

India Meteorological Department chief L.S. Rathore said that aftershocks could well continue for a few more weeks and months.

The tremors were felt in India, particularly in capital Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kolkata and the northeastern city of Guwahati. Buildings also shook in faraway Kochi in Kerala.

In Delhi, people ran out as buildings began to shake. Metro services were brought to a halt.

Rohtash Sharma said in Delhi: “I was at a bank when I felt the earthquake. I immediately ran out along with others.”

“Oh…this time I felt that it lasted longer than the one that we had in April. We all rushed out of our houses,” said Rakesh Sharma, who lives on the fifth floor in a high-rise building in C-Scheme area of Jaipur in India’s Rajasthan state.

In Kathmandu, an eyewitness said that he saw a building fall.

Another witness told IANS that he saw debris falling on a taxi packed with people. The fate of the people in the taxi was not immediately known.

Onlookers were left dazed and distraught on seeing the buildings collapse with a roar, a replay of the April 25 quake horror.

There was no electricity in Kathmandu. Internet connectivity too snapped.

People desperate for news tried to get in touch through their mobile phones, but that too did not work. The mobile network was jammed.

In Kathmandu, people made a beeline for shops to stock on water and other essential commodities here.

Harried shopkeepers were seen trying to manage the surging crowds at their shops.

People feared a repeat of the April 25 earthquake which caused widespread devastation.

“It is really scary,” said a Kathmandu resident as he rushed to join the people at the local grocery shop.

Nepal’s National Assembly was in session when the earth began to shake, creating panic among the lawmakers. They quickly trooped out of the building, which was soon plunged into darkness.

Kathmandu airport was closed temporarily as the ATC staff hurried out of the tower.

Eight killed as quake strikes Bihar

At least eight people, including three children, were killed and nearly two dozen people were injured when a massive earthquake caused walls to collapse in parts of Bihar on Tuesday, officials said.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake’s epicentre was in Kodari, Nepal and its effect was felt across north India, including Bihar.

A labourer was killed when an under-construction wall collapsed in Danapur near Patna and a child was killed in Siwan district when a wall collapsed. Another child was seriously injured, officials of state disaster management department said.

Two children were killed in Manigachi in Darbhanga district in a wall collapse and a woman was killed in Dumra of Sitamarhi district when she came under the debris of a wall that fell.

One person died in Hajipur in Vaishali district, Nawada and Saran districts due to the quake.

Over half a dozen girl students of a government middle school at Bihya in Bhojpur district were injured when they were trying to rush out of class room.

“All of them were admitted at a primary health centre for treatment,” a district official said.

In Forbesganj in Araria district, bordering Nepal, at least 12 people were injured in a stampede during the quake.

People in Patna, Darbhanga, Purnea, Kishanganj, Madhubani, Jehanabad and Aurangabad felt the tremors for over a minute.

“People across Bihar felt the tremors,” Patna Met Office director A.K. Sen said.

According to state disaster management department officials here, there were reports of cracks in several houses in Jehanabad, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Gaya, and Raxaul in East Champaran district.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of the state disaster management department and directed officials concerned to assess the damage caused by the quake.

Hundreds of thousands of people came out of their houses across the state as soon as they felt temblor.

In Patna, people rushed out of their houses and took shelter in open spaces.

(IANS)

UN: Only five percent of Nepal quake funds received

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About $22m of $415m requested by UN and partners has been provided so far, amid large number of global crises.

Nepal's post-disaster response has been heavily criticised in the 10 days following the earthquake [Getty Images]

Nepal’s post-disaster response has been heavily criticised in the 10 days following the earthquake [Getty Images]

by Al Jazeera

Only a fraction of the emergency funds the United Nations has requested for victims of Nepal’s earthquake have come in, UN officials have said, as crises around the world put unprecedented demands on international donors.

Of the $415 million requested by the UN and its partners last week, just $22.4 million has been provided – about five percent.

“It’s a poor response,” Orla Fagan, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.

Fagan attributed the shortage to “donor fatigue”, citing more than a dozen other long-running international crises, such as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, which are also making demands on donor nations.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck northwest of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on April 25 has killed at least 7,759 people, injured more than 16,000, and destroyed more than 300,000 homes.

Nepal’s post-disaster response has been heavily criticised in the 10 days following the earthquake. Many people in rural areas have still not received any government aid. The UN and Western governments have blamed the country’s bureaucracy for taxing and stalling the flow of supplies at border crossings.

The government, however, has denied those accusations.

“Nepal is a very small country, we have limited resources,” Brigadier General Jagadish Chandra Pokharel told Al Jazeera this week. “The terrain is inaccessible even under ideal circumstances. We have no conflict and good relations, so 90 percent of military personnel are focused on relief efforts.”

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