The first victim of the tragic plane crash in Nepal has been identified and photographed.
The sad jet came down today as it neared Pokhara International Airport in the South Asian nation, according to travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33, from Moscow. She had just written an enthusiastic article about her vacation moments before.
Viktoria Altunina, Yuri Lugin, and Viktor Lagin were three additional Russians who perished on the flight.
Four Russian citizens on board the crashed jet were declared dead earlier by Alexei Novikov, the Russian ambassador to Nepal.
“Unfortunately, four citizens of the Russian Federation died,” he said.
“We are in constant contact with the Nepalese authorities and will provide all necessary assistance to the relatives of the dead Russians.”
The 72 passengers on board the downed aircraft were 15 foreigners in total, including five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Argentina and France.
An Australian and an Irish citizen were on the passenger list.
An upsetting video from earlier today saw the airliner losing control in midair just seconds before it crashed.
The footage shows the low-flying ATR-72 twin engine turboprop plane, which was travelling from Kathmandu to Pokhara, lurching to the right and appearing to topple as it hits the ground.
The roar at the moment of impact after the aircraft descended behind the building was captured on video from a terrace.
There was an explosion and huge flames at the crash site.
“We expect to recover more bodies,” said army spokesman Krishna Bhandari .
”The plane has broken into pieces.”
Flying conditions appeared good at the time the plane came down.
