Nepal declares national mourning for crash victims

Kathmandu, Sep 27: The Nepal government declared today a day of national mourning and public holiday in memory of the 24 people killed in the copter crash, including a minister, in eastern Nepal on Saturday.

The national flag will be at half-mast today in government offices throughout the country as well as in Nepal's diplomatic missions abroad. State tribute will be paid to Gopal Rai, Minister of State for Forests and Soil Conservation, and 23 others killed in the Taplejung district.

The minister together with Finnish charge d' affaires, senior officials of the forest ministry and WWF officials of Nepal, US and UK and two journalists were killed in the accident.

All programmes of World Tourism Day scheduled for today have been cancelled.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members wishing eternal peace for the departed souls.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a probe commission headed by Judge of Patan Appellate Court, Keshari Raj Pandit, to investigate the incident and submit its preliminary report within 15 days and the final report within 45 days.

Minister for tourism and civil aviation Pradip Gyawali informed the House that the government will entertain requests from countries whose nationals have died and wish to be included in the probe commission.

UN Resident Coordinator Matthew Kahane has conveyed that the UN family has expressed shock and grief at the tragic death of the friends and colleagues who died while on their mission of development of Nepal.

''It is a terrible loss for the country and the international community,'' Kahane added.

The US and the Chinese Embassy have decided to close their missions for today to join Nepal in this hour of mourning.

UNI

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