Six aboard helicopter carrying Mexican tourists killed in a crash near Mt. Everest
KATHMANDU, Nepal — All six people on a helicopter carrying Mexican tourists were killed when it crashed Tuesday near Mt. Everest in Nepal, authorities said.
The helicopter crashed in the Lamajura area. All the bodies were recovered and flown out of the area, said Basanta Bhattarai, the chief government administrator in the area.
The five tourists were Mexican nationals and the pilot was Nepalese, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. The Mexicans were two men and three women.
Two rescue helicopters were used to fly the bodies out of the crash site to the capital, Kathmandu. Doctors were expected to perform an autopsy before the bodies are handed over to relatives or embassy officials.
The helicopter crash that killed 13 people, including six Marines, during a humanitarian mission in Nepal last spring was “most probably” caused when the pilots decided to fly an unfamiliar route during bad weather, according to the Marine Corps.
The aircraft was returning to Kathmandu on Tuesday morning after bringing the tourists to the world’s highest peak.
It was unclear what caused the crash. Weather conditions had caused the helicopter’s flight route to be changed, airport official Sagar Kadel said.
It is common for flights to be delayed and routes changed during the monsoon season and heavy rains.
The tourist and mountaineering season ended in May with the onset of the rainy season, and tourist flights to the mountains are less common this time of year as visibility is poor and weather conditions become unpredictable.
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