‘I’m Okay, Will Be Back’: What UP Man Told His Family 3 Days Before Nepal Crash

Out of the five Indians, four were from Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district. Their bodies are yet to be recovered.

Abhishek Kushwaha's father, Chandrama Maurya told The Quint, "He said that he will be back in a day or two.

(Photo: AP/PTI) 

Video Producer: Akanksha Pandey
Video Editor: Rajbir Singh

After a Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed  in Nepal on Sunday, 15 January, the family of one of four Indian nationals, deceased in the crash, said, "He used to talk to his mother, and told her that he is okay."

Abhishek Kushwaha, Bishal Sharma, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, Sonu Jaiswal, and Sanjaya Jaiswal were on the aircraft carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, which crashed close to Pokhara International Airport and were confirmed dead. Their bodies are yet to be recovered.

Abhishek Kushwaha's father, Chandrama Maurya told The Quint, "He said that he will be back in a day or two."

Maurya added, “People from the local administration had come around 8:30 pm in the night. They told us that when the bodies are brought back, we will be informed."

His father informed that Abhishek was the sole breadwinner of the family, and added that they wanted to get him married soon.

"This is a very sad occurrence, he was the sole earner of the family. He was a promising boy, we got him educated and now, are drowning in debt. We thought that our family will be safe, but now such an incident has taken place.” 

Chandrama Maurya, Father of Abhishek Kushwaha

“Abhishek was not married, we were thinking about getting him married and now this saddening incident has struck," he said.

Out of the five Indians, four were from Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district. Abhishek Kushwaha, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, Vishal Sharma, and Sonu Jaiswal are residents of Alwalpur are in the district.

Kushwaha's cousin, Chandrabhan Maurya said, “We are in shock after this incident where we have lost our brother.

"We would like to request the administration to give us as much help as possible, because our brother, who we lost in this incident, was the sole earner of the family...He was the only educated one, who used to provide enough money to run the entire family.”

Chandrabhan Maurya also mentioned a live video that shows the aircraft taking a sharp turn before it crashed and turned into flames.

“When the incident occurred, we found out from news channels and started thinking if they were one of the victims, who went to Nepal. When we tried calling, the phone was switched off.” 

“He has taken a loan and started a small shop on the Alwalpur intersection. The loan has not been paid off yet, it is almost one to 1.5 lakhs.” 

Ghazipur District Magistrate Aryaka Akhauri indicated that four of these men hailed from Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, and were on a vacation together.

Ajay Kumar Shah, a resident of Sarlahi district in southern Nepal, meanwhile, claimed that "all four were planning to enjoy paragliding in the lake city and tourist hub Pokhara," reported PTI.

The Incident 

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am and crashed around 11 am near Pokhara.

Soon after, at least 68 people on board Yeti Airlines aircraft were confirmed dead. This has been termed Nepal's deadliest air crash since 1992.

There were ten foreigners on board the aircraft.