Explosion Near Katmandu Chabad House – A Plane Crash
An explosion near the Chabad House in Katmandu, Nepal turned out to be an airplane crash. Earlier reports of a fire in a hotel were incorrect. 21 people were injured in the accident, where a small airplane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip.
From the AP:
A plane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in northern Nepal early Thursday, and all 21 people including nine Japanese tourists on board survived with injuries, police said.
Four of them are in critical condition, police officer Bhim Bahadur Chand said.
The state-owned Nepal Airlines plane was carrying nine Japanese tourists. The others on board, including three crew members, are all Nepali.
The aircraft was trying to land at Jomsom airport, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital Katmandu, when it crashed on the banks of Kaligandaki river.
The injured were rushed to the local hospital, and those with serious injuries are being airlifted to nearby Pokhara town for treatment.
The area is popular with foreign trekkers visiting the Mount Annapurna area and Hindu pilgrims visiting the revered Muktinath temple.
Fifteen people were killed last May when a plane crashed while attempting to land at the same airport.
Near?
This airport is 200km away from Kathmandu?!
Milhouse
Exactly.
Moshe
I was in Pokara the whole small town is near the airport.
Milhouse
Yes, that’s the point. How could a crash in Pokhara be it anywhere near the Kathmandu Chabad House, 200 km away?
Milhouse
The plane crash was at Jomson, which is 60 km away from Pokhara, and 200 km from Kathmandu, and that’s in a straight line; driving distances are about double. It cannot explain any explosion near any Chabad House, let alone the one in Kathmandu!
yechiel
There seems to be a large fire in the tourist district in Thamel, the tourist area of Kathmandu as well. It took nine hours to put out and gas balloons were involved. It was reported in the Himalayan Times. Some of the responders were injured but they reported no deaths.
CH
That makes more sense. The facebook status doesn’t mention anything about a plane crash.
Milhouse
OK, here are the facts. This had nothing to do with the plane crash in Jomson. There was a massive explosion and fire at Faces Lounge, which is about 300 m from the Chabad House. It seems that a problem with the bar’s electric generator set off a spark which exploded some gas cylinders, and that set off a fire that took nine hours to bring under control.
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?NewsID=376748