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. Indian authorities are working in close coordination with Nepali officials for early repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased, the Indian Embassy in Nepal 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, 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, Tamang said.
“The Embassy of India in Kathmandu expresses its deepest condolences on the demise of an Indian in an incident involving a collision between two helicopters in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal today,” the Indian Embassy in Nepal said.