Photo taken on March 12, 2018 shows the crash-landing site in Kathmandu, Nepal. A passenger plane of the US-Bangla Airlines crashed at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Monday, with dozens feared dead and at least 17 people injured. [Photo/Xinhua] KATHMANDU -- Forty-nine people were killed and 22 injured after a passenger plane of the US-Bangla Airlines crashed in course of landing at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Monday afternoon, government authorities said here. The incident took place due to the pilot's missed approach, the authorities said. General Manager of the TIA Rajkumar Chhetri told media here that the US-Bangla plane crashed in course of landing at the airport due to missed approach of the pilot at 2:15 pm local time (1130 GMT) Monday. Chhetri said that the Bangla aircraft carrying 71 persons including four crew members narrowly escaped from hitting the tail of Thai Airways plane parked at the airport. The UBG211 flight was en route to Kathmandu from Dhaka, Bangladesh. The ill-fated plane was said to have circled the airport twice before trying landing. Separate rescue teams of Nepal Police and Nepal Army were deployed to carry out rescue operations immediately after the crash. Dozens of firefighters and rescuers rushed to the crash site, and the flames were put out in a relatively short time. The TIA was temporarily closed for incoming and outgoing international flights following the accident. The injured are receiving treatment at local hospitals in the Capital. Officials said that the death toll may further increase. Of the total passengers onboard, 33 were from Nepal, 32 from Bangladesh, one from China and one from the Maldives, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. The authorities have recovered the dead bodies from the spot later in the day. The local authorities were also able to recover the black box of the airlines later on Monday. Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina following the incident and expressed sorrow over the loss of lives, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office here. Shortly after the incident, Prime Minister Oli along with ministers reached the spot and issued instructions to the government authorities to combat the emergency. While visiting the spot, the prime minister vowed to launch a probe into the incident. Social media networks in Nepal were flooded with photographs immediately after the deadly plane crash in the capital city. In Kathmandu Medical College, known as KMC hospital where most of the injured or dead bodies were sent for treatment or placement, heartbroken relatives mourned the death of their loved ones with screams, tears and grief, giving a throbbing ambiance to the hospital. As soon as the US-Bangla Airlines flight crashed, at least 24 injured were taken to this hospital, which is the nearest one from the crash site, hospital officials said. Among those taken to KMC hospital, 8 were pronounced dead upon their arrival, including 3 Bangladeshis, three Nepali nationals and two with unidentified nationalities. The hospital remained tensed till night with the presence of media people, security personnel and even ordinary people, saddened by such a big incident in the country, which recently just formed the federal parliament and appointed new prime minister. Among those brought in KMC, four were referred to other hospitals while the remaining are undergoing treatment in ICU, surgery ward, ortho ward, plastic ward, among others. Prakash Bhattarai, administrative director at the KMC hospital, told Xinhua, We have deployed a special medical team in all the wards where survivors are being treated. Some have shown progress while some are still under intensive care. According to authorities, other survivors are being treated in different hospitals like Norvic, Mediciti and Om. Basanta Bohora, who survived the crash and is being treated in Norvic hospital, was quoted by local media as saying, All of a sudden the plane shook violently and there was a loud bang afterwards. I was seated near the window and was able to break out of the window. This is the deadliest air crash at Nepal's only international airport after a Turkish Airlines flight crash-landed at the airport in March 2015 with no casualties. The air crash has been regarded as a big shot to the tourism industry of the Himalayan nation, which is still recovering after the deadly earthquake of 2015 killed nearly 9,000 people. The US-Bangla Airlines is a privately-owned Bangladeshi airline headquartered in Dhaka. There were altogether 71 people onboard the plane, including four Bangladeshi crew members, according to a statement released by the Bangladeshi ministry of foreign affairs late Monday night. printed wristbandimprinted rubber braceletscool things to do with rubber braceletssilicone bracelets canadafournisseur bracelet silicone
A Taiwan delegation headed by Han Kuo-yu (C), mayor of Kaohsiung, visits Xiamen, East China's Fujian province on March 26. [Photo/VCG] Trade deals worth more than 1 billion yuan ($149 million) have been signed during Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu's first visit across the Taiwan Straits, selling the city's agricultural and fishery products to mainland cities. These achievements reflect that the two sides belong to one family, fully demonstrating that on the basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and one-China policy, city exchanges across the Straits have broad prospects, An Fengshan, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday. Han, a rising star in Taiwan's Kuomintang party, arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Friday, leading a delegation of about 30 officials and business executives from Kaohsiung. The weeklong visit by Han, who assumed office in December, includes the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, Shenzhen in Guangdong province and Xiamen in Fujian province. The trip is scheduled to conclude on Thursday. Han and his group signed agreements worth 400 million yuan during their stay in Shenzhen and Xiamen, over 500 million yuan in Hong Kong and about 160 million yuan in Macao, according to the spokesman. The agreements on selling Kaohsiung's agricultural and fishery products to mainland cities were signed in accordance with the market-oriented operation mechanism, An said at a regular news conference. Kaohsiung was also invited to join trade and culture exhibitions held in Xiamen every year, including the Straits Forum and China International Fair for Investment and Trade to boost economic ties. Xiamen will hold cultural activities, including a South Fujian dialect chorus show, in Kaohsiung, according to An. In addition, Shenzhen will provide 200 internships and jobs for young people in Kaohsiung every year. Xiamen Air will visit Taiwan again this year to recruit 200 flight attendants, and 100 spots will be set aside for Kaohsiung, he said. Travel agencies in Shenzhen and Xiamen will be encouraged to organize tours to Kaohsiung under the market mechanism, and 8,000 tourists are expected to travel to Kaohsiung in groups, An said, adding Xiamen-to-Kaohsiung cruises will be arranged as soon as possible. The spokesman said that through the trip, a consensus was reached on building a cross-Straits city exchange mechanism, showing bright prospects for strengthening cooperation with Kaohsiung. We support more cities on both sides in strengthening exchanges on the basis of the 1992 Consensus and working together for development, so our compatriots in Taiwan will have a greater sense of gain, he added. Speaking of the criticism from the Democratic Progressive Party and some Taiwan independence forces on the visit, An said that the DPP administration's obstruction and interference in cross-Straits city-level cooperation exposes their true motive, to damage Taiwan compatriots' interests and well-being for their own ends. Only when cross-Straits relations are good will Taiwan be better, he said. We hope that compatriots on both sides will oppose 'Taiwan independence' and actively promote the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. Xinhua contributed to this story.
