KATHMANDU: The fate of six people, mostly soldiers of the Nepal Army, remained unknown till late Tuesday night as an army chopper carrying six was feared to have crashed in western Nepal, the Times of India reported. It is the second air disaster suffered by the Himalayan nation less than a month after a mountain flight in September crashed near the capital in late September, killing all 19 people on board, who were mostly Indian tourists.
The army said in a press release late Tuesday night that its RAN 49 Islander aircraft went out of contact about an hour after taking off from Nepalgunj town on Tuesday evening.
The aircraft was carrying a sick soldier to Kathmandu for medical treatment. There were three more passengers as well as two members of the crew.
The army said search operations were on to trace the missing aircraft.