In Nepal, thirteen Indians are among the fifteen killed in the air crash today at Jomsom the district headquarters of Mustang district. The private airlines of Agni Air 9 N AIG carrying sixteen passengers and three crew was heading towards Jomsom from Pokhara.

The dead include the pilot, co-pilot , ten men and five women The bodies of the deceased have been brought to Kathmandu and will be kept in the Teaching hospital for postmortem and identification. Six persons were rescued among them three Indians which included the father, Tirumala Kidambi Sreekanth, nine year old girl Tirumala Kidambi Sreevardhini and six year old boy Tirumala Kidambi Sreepada.

They are being treated at the Manipal hospital in Pokhara. It was a short flight from Pokhara to Josom, in north western Nepal. The donier plane of the private airlines had taken off at 9.30 am local time and around 9.40 it crashed while trying to land . According to the airport authorities, the pilot had reported light indication problem while trying to land and the aircraft was diverted back to Pokhara.

While turning left it descended and crashed hitting a hill near Josom Mountain resort hotel at an altitude of 9000 feet. For the six it was a lucky escape as the plane did not set on fire .The front part of the ill fated plane was damaged completely while the back was intact. The Indians were said to be headed towards Muktinath temple which is revered shrine for both hindus and Buddhists, in Mustang district . With the summer season on Mustang district has a large number of tourists to trek and visit the remote north of the country .

A control room / information centre has been set up in the Indian Embassy, Kathmandu. Following are the phone numbers of the information centre.

00-977-1-4423702

00-977-1-4410900, extn.4109

00-977-1-4411699, extn.4109

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is in touch with India's Ambassador to Nepal.