Kathmandu, March 19

Bodies of 23 Bangladeshi nationals killed in the ill-fated US-Bangla aircraft were airlifted to Bangladesh in a special flight today.

Two others who survived the crash were also airlifted to Bangladesh while one patient was airlifted to New Delhi.

“The bodies were taken to Bangladesh on a special Bangladesh Air Force flight. The patients were taken to Delhi and Bangladesh for further treatment,” said Prem Nath Thakur, Tribhuvan International Airport spokesperson.

“The identity of six people was established yesterday while 17 were identified earlier. However, the identity of three people who lost their lives in the tragic incident is yet to be ascertained,” said Bijay Bhandari, sub-inspector, Nepal Police. “All the three bodies are of males and it will take some time to identify them,” Bhandari  added.

Bodies of 22 Nepalis (12 women and 10 men) have been identified. Twenty-one bodies have already been handed over to their families while one is yet to be handed over to family members.

Altogether, 22 people had survived the crash, of whom 11 were Nepali nationals.

The Kathmandu-bound US-Bangla Airlines flight, UBG 211, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 with 67 passengers and four crew members caught fire after it careened off the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport on March 12, killing 49 people.