It’s terrifying to get the news of plane crashes, but what’s even more terrifying is witnessing live crash footage from someone in it.
The plane, which took off from the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu just 30 minutes before it crashed, had 68 passengers and four crewmen on board. The deadliest plane crash to hit Nepal in nearly 30 years is now believed to have left no survivors.
A passenger from India reported being Sonu Jaiswal was live streaming while on the plane. And the live footage caught the last seconds before Yeti Airlines ATR 72 crashed in the city of Pokhara, in Nepal. That video went viral all over the net.
Jaiswal was seen all happy as he was recording the view from above and continued to turn the camera on himself. He then turned it around again to show the other passengers, chatting and laughing.
Seconds later, the phone lost focus, but a deafening crash and screaming could be heard. Then, it kept recording. There were flames and the sound of an engine screeching. When it refocused, it was already on the ground pointing at a tree before it seemed to have been yanked out of focus again.
Then, there was the sound of heavy breathing before the video ended. Another video, taken from the ground, showed the plane levelled with the ground as it approached the airport before it suddenly took a hard swerve to the left. (Reported by The Straits Times Asia)
Warning: This video below contains footage that may be distressing to some viewers.
Jaiswal was with three of his friends, all from Ghazipur in India, who had gone to a grand shrine on the outskirts of Kathmandu dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva before they flew to Pokhara, a picturesque tourist town, to paraglide.
Abhishek Pratap Shah, a former politician in Nepal, who spoke to the Indian news NDTV, said Jaiswal’s phone was found among the wreckage of the plane. The footage confirmed authenticity.
Jaiswal’s father, Rajendra Prasad Jaiswal, told the BBC he could not bear to watch the clip himself.
Varnam Malaysia on behalf of Malaysians expresses our deep condolences to the victims of Nepal’s devastating plane crash.
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