KATHMANDU, JULY 24

A post-mortem and identification process for the bodies of the 18 victims of the Saurya Airlines plane crash has begun at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj.

Dr. Gopal Prasad Chaudhary, Chief of the Faculty of Forensic Medicine at the hospital, stated that activities to establish the identities of the deceased have commenced with the post-mortem examinations. He added that it would take around four hours to establish the identity of each deceased person.

Due to a shortage of medical personnel, doctors have been summoned from Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Bhaktapur Hospital, Dhulikhel Hospital, and Pokhara. They are expected to arrive by tomorrow, Dr. Chaudhary mentioned.

The identities of all the bodies will be established within 72 hours by matching details provided by the relatives of the deceased. Dr. Chaudhary further said they would try to hand over the bodies after completing the necessary procedures as soon as possible.

If identification through fingerprints, teeth, and other methods is not possible, it would take two weeks to establish identity through DNA testing. A 25-member technical team comprising doctors has been deployed to conduct post-mortem and forensic tests to establish identities.

Eighteen people died when a Pokhara-bound Saurya Airlines aircraft from Kathmandu crashed at TIA on Wednesday morning.