Nepal: 5 killed in helicopter crash in Himalayan forest

A helicopter crashed in central Nepal on Wednesday, killing all five people aboard, including the pilot and four Chinese passengers.

The chopper crashed into a Himalayan forest in Shivapuri National Park of Nuwakot district, 57km (35 miles) from the capital, deputy Chief District Officer Krishna Prasad Humagain said.

The Air Dynasty chopper was heading to Syabrubesi, a starting point for many trekking routes popular with tourists, from the capital Kathmandu.

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It lost contact about three minutes after taking off, a press release from the Civil Aviation Authority said.

"All five people aboard including the pilot are dead," police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP.

Nuwakot district officer Ram Krishna Adhikari, said five dead bodies have been retrieved from the accident site.

Local residents saw a fire emanating from the forest and alerted authorities, he said.

Nepal's air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.

But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance, issues compounded by mountainous Nepal's treacherous geography.

The Himalayan republic has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.

The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.

Wednesday's incident comes two weeks after a plane crash in Kathmandu killed all 18 aboard except the pilot.

Nepal's last major incident involving a commercial flight was in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 aboard.