Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - The Nepalese government
refuses to hand over the bodies of the 19 victims of the air disaster that occurred
on September 28. According
to police, the bodies are unrecognizable and a DNA test is needed to identify
them. Unfortunately,
Nepal does not have the technology
to carry out the test and has asked India and other countries to use
their equipment. To
date, the estimated time for recognition is over a month. The
news has sparked the ire of victims' families, mostly foreign who are not
willing to wait for such a long period.
Wosti
Harihar, head of the forensic department of the Tribhuwan
University Hospital
in Kathmandu, states that "the autopsies
on the bodies have already been completed, but it is impossible to determine
the identity without DNA testing." The
doctor adds that the only option is to seek the assistance of foreign
hospitals. "The
bodies - he explains - are in terrible condition and if India agrees to help take us it will
take more than a month to analyze all of the remains." Meanwhile,
local media is railing against the authorities accused of failing to cooperate
with the research institute, to avoid taking responsibility. Today
Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confessed that he
knew nothing about the case. Bal
Krishna Ghimire, spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation,
on the other hand silenced the criticism, saying that for the moment there are
no updates.
The
plane, owned by Sita Air, crashed minutes after taking off from Tribhuvan
International Airport in Kathmandu. According
to the reconstruction, the aircraft collided with a large bird - perhaps a hawk
- which damaged one of the engines triggering a fire on board. The
pilot had attempted to land near the river Manahara, but without success. 19
people died in the disaster, seven Britons, five Chinese and seven Nepalese,
including three crew. United
Kingdom authorities have sent a team of
experts on site to speed up the investigation.
Airplanes
and helicopters are the main means of transport for the people of Nepal. Nepal
has a limited network of roads and many communities in the mountains and hills
are accessible only on foot or by air. The
explosion of trekking tourism across the Himalayas
has increased the risk of aircraft accidents. In
a few years the travel agencies that offer tours on to the rooftop of the world
have more than doubled. In
order to collect more money, the authorities have lowered safety standards
allowing flights during the monsoon season, characterized by fog and heavy
rains. In
December 2010, a
plane carrying three crew members, 22 people in all, crashed into a mountain
shortly after taking off from a small airstrip 140 kilometers east
of Kathmandu. The
passengers were mostly Bhutanese citizens on a pilgrimage who had chartered a
plane to visit a Buddhist holy site in the area.