Bangladesh keeps aeroplane ready to fly to Nepal after US-Bangla crash

Bangladesh has kept an aeroplane standby to fly to Nepal with an emergency team when Kathmandu airport is open, the state minister for foreign affairs has said.

Md Shahriar Alam told bdnews24.com that the Kathmandu “airport is closed now. And we learnt that there is no medical emergency, so we kept our team ready so that they can fly when the airport is open”.

The armed forces division is coordinating the team, he said.

A Bangladeshi airliner, operated by US-Bangla, with 71 people on board crashed on Monday while coming in to land at the airport in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, killing at least 50 people, officials said.

The ill-fated aircraft took off from Dhaka at 12:52pm for around a two and half hour journey.

A number of passengers have been rescued alive from the burning wreckage of the Bombardier Q400 series aircraft, but nine people remained unaccounted for.

The state minister said they will also need clearance since the airport can accommodate only eight to 10 aircraft at a time.

“So it may take some time,” he said, adding that they will have to send the team, despite no emergency need, to bring back the deceased and the injured.

The Bangladesh embassy in Kathmandu earlier opened a hotline for any support.

Counsellor Mohammad Al Alamul Emam with mobile number [phone] and First Secretary Asit Baran Sarker with mobile number [phone] can be contacted for support.

Initial reports suggested the plane hit an airport fence during landing and burst into flames at a field near the tarmac of Tribhuvan International Airport.