Indian killed as two helicopters collide in Nepal

Kathmandu: A 47-year-old Indian national was killed and another passenger injured when two helicopters collided while landing on Tuesday in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, police said.

The two helicopters collided while landing at Pheriche in Ward 4 of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality of Solukhumbu district on Tuesday, according to a Nepal Police statement.

The helicopters, operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty, collided at around 8.11 am (local time), according to the District Police Office, Solukhumbu. Both helicopters took off from Lukla Airport, the gateway to Mt Everest.

Police Inspector Mausam Tamang said the deceased was identified as Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, an Indian national travelling aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter.

Shailesh Krishna Patel, a 49-year-old Indian origin resident of New Zealand who was also aboard the same helicopter, was injured in the collision. He was airlifted to Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu by a Prabhu Helicopter, Tamang said.

Nepalese pilots, Rabindra Prajapati of Fishtail Air and Prajwal KC of Dynasty Air, were also injured in the incident and have been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment. Dynasty Air helicopter was carrying cargo.

Pheriche lies on the way to the Mt Everest Base Camp, 150 km northeast of Kathmandu.

Police said the body of Balaramaramadu has been taken to a hospital in Lukla and will soon be sent to Kathmandu for postmortem.

The number of passengers aboard the two helicopters at the time of the collision has yet to be confirmed. Police said they were gathering further details of the incident.

Helicopter and aviation accidents are frequent in Nepal due to its extreme mountainous terrain, unpredictable high-altitude weather, and aging infrastructure.