Yahoo – AFP,
5 March 2015
Nepalese
rescue workers check the area around a Turkish Airlines plane after it slid
off
the tarmac at Kathmandu airport on March 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Prakash Mathema)
|
Kathmandu's
international airport was closed for a second straight day Thursday, leaving
thousands stranded at the start of the tourist season, after a plane skidded
off its only runway.
The Indian
Air Force flew in experts and equipment to help Nepal remove the Turkish
Airlines A330, which had to be evacuated after it skidded off the runway with
224 passengers on board early Wednesday.
All the
passengers and crew were unhurt.
Rescue
workers check the area around a
Turkish Airlines plane after it missed the
runway at Kathmandu's international
airport on March 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/
Prakash
Mathema)
|
International
flights have been suspended until 10 am (0415 GMT) Friday, affecting about
12,000 passengers so far.
"Once
the airport reopens, it will stay open around the clock for three days in order
to ease the backlog of flights," Suman said at a press conference.
Scores of
travellers swarmed Kathmandu airport on Thursday for information, among them
Lita dela Cruz, a tourist from the Philippines who said she was desperate fly
back to London where she works.
"It's
a huge problem for me, my employer is expecting me back tonight and I can't see
how I will reach (there) on time," she told AFP.
Nepalese
migrant worker, Rajman Lodh, said he worried about losing his job in Saudi
Arabia if the airport failed to resume operations soon.
"I
have already spent 100,000 rupees ($1,000) to get the job and organise my
passport and travel, now if my flight is delayed for longer, I may not even be
able to start work," Lodh, 34, told AFP.
Nepalese
officials said they would launch an investigation into the accident, which
damaged the aircraft's landing gear and front engines and dislodged its tyres.
The
Himalayan nation is home to some of the world's most remote and tricky runways,
flanked by snow-capped peaks and terrain that poses a challenge even for
accomplished pilots.
A string of
crashes as well as the European Union's decision to blacklist all Nepalese
airlines prompted government officials last year to announce plans to install
new radar and weather monitoring systems.
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