Last Sunday (15 Jan), news of a fatal plane accident in Nepal shocked sent shockwaves around the world.
With 70 people dead and two others missing, the incident is the country’s deadliest plane crash in the last three decades.
A haunting recording of a passenger’s final moments on the flight seconds before it went down has since emerged.
According to Kadak, a Nepalese news channel on YouTube, Sonu Jaiswal was on the ill-fated flight headed for Pokhara, Nepal.
Seconds before the plane crashed, he conducted a livestream on Facebook with three other friends.
The footage initially showed a bird’s eye view of Pokhara through a window.
Jaiswal then turned the camera on himself smiling, likely in anticipation of landing at Pokhara.
Source: Kadak on YouTube
The recording subsequently showed the other passengers on the flight for a few seconds before a deafening crash resounded through the aircraft.
Source: Kadak on YouTube
The phone seemingly fell out of Jaiswal’s hand, continuing to record as the aeroplane filled with smoke and fire.
Source: Kadak on YouTube
Breaking glass, screams and the sounds of an engine were heard in the video as well.
BBC reports that Jaiswal’s relatives and friends have confirmed the authenticity of the footage.
Speaking to reporters, Mukesh Kashyap, Jaiswal’s friend, said, “Sonu did the [livestream] when the plane crashed in a gorge near the Seti River.”
Source: Reuters
Jaiswal’s Facebook profile has now been set to private. However, his livestream has circulated widely on social media.
As of yet, it is still unclear how Jaiswal was able to access the Internet for the livestream during the flight.
Former lawmaker in Nepal Abhishek Pratap Shah told NDTV that rescuers were able to recover Jaiswal’s phone from the wreckage of the plane.
“[The livestream] was sent by one of my friends, who received it from a police officer. It is a real record,” he said.
Nepalese officials have not confirmed his claim or commented on the recording.
Jaiswal and his three friends are remembered by their fellow villagers in India as “kind, fun-loving souls”.
They had been friends for many years, and often spent time together. Locals from their village stated that they had embarked on a trip to Nepal on 13 Jan to visit a temple in the area.
The trip had been Jaiswal’s idea, who wanted to pray at the temple for a fourth son.
After their visit, they boarded the ill-fated flight to Pokhara to paraglide in the town. They had planned to return to Kathmandu, BBC reports.
Jaiswal’s father, Rajendra Prasad Jaiswal, said he could not bring himself to watch the clip, adding,
I have only heard about it from Sonu’s friends. Our lives have come crashing down.
Rescue operations are still underway in Pokhara, Nepal, to find the remaining two victims on board the flight, according to Al Jazeera.
An inquiry into the cause of the crash is ongoing. On 16 Jan, rescuers were able to find a voice recorder from the cockpit and a flight data recorder, which will help with investigations.
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Featured image adapted from Kadak on YouTube.
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