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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Tahir Ibn Manzoor & Ryan Fahey

Doomed plane passengers' final moments caught in Facebook live as Nepal crash kills 68

This is the horror moment the Nepal plane crash was captured on Facebook Live to one of the Indian passengers found dead among the wreckage.

Minutes before the ill-fated Yeti Airlines plane crashed in Nepal's Pokhara, four of its passengers, all from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, India went live on Facebook to share their flight experience.

The men were heading to Pokhara on a week-long paragliding trip after landing in Nepal on January 13.

"Have a look at the water body, it's beautiful," said one of them as the plane came swooping down towards the Pokhara airport

"It's a lot of fun", exclaims the other man.

Shortly after the video shows the aircraft making a sharp left turn before crashing and bursting into flames.

The black box from the doomed Yeti Airlines ATR 72 after the plane smashed into a gorge in Pokhara (Facebook)
The crash killed 68 people (Facebook)

For the next 41 seconds, the phone camera captures glimpses of towering flames around it.

Initially, the people on the plane look to be normal and in high spirits in the video, with the pals cracking jokes.

But just after the footage becomes hazy, screaming can be heard before the plane is engulfed by massive fire.

A woman cries as the body of one of her relatives is brought to a hospital in Pokhara, Nepal (Yunish Gurung/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Sonu Jaiswal, 29, Anil Rajbhar, 28, Vishal Sharma, 23, and Abhishek Singh Kushwaha, 23, arrived in Kathmandu after performing Hindu worship at the Pashupatinath temple.

The four were among five Indians killed in the crash, along with 68 other passengers.

Jaiswal was a liquor trader, and Rajbhar and Kushwaha ran non-profit charities, with Sharma working as a finance officer for a motorcycle company.

Nepal began a national day of mourning Monday (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

"Sonu went live on Facebook after boarding the flight to Pokhara. The live-streaming showed Sonu and his friends in a good mood, but then flames appeared before the streaming stopped," Sonu's cousin Rajat Jaiswal said.

His comments came after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences for the "precious lives lost".

“Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families," he tweeted.

A file photo of a Yeti Airlines ATR 72 (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)

Local politicians Balram Singh "promised the families full cooperation in bringing back their bodies".

Abhishek's older brother said: "The Indian and Nepalese embassies have both called us in the last three hours.

"We were told that on Monday morning, bodies will arrive in Delhi."'

Vishal's brother said his family was unsure how they will obtain his remains for cremation.

Bodies are loaded on to trucks at the plane crash site (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath tweeted: “The plane crash in Nepal is very sad. A humble tribute to all the people who died in this, including the Indian citizens!

"My condolences are with the bereaved families. May Lord Shri Ram grant peace to the departed souls in his holy feet and speedy recovery to the injured."

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