Two U.S. citizens and two U.S. permanent residents were among those killed in a plane crash in Nepal earlier this week, State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a briefing Wednesday.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic Yeti Airlines crash over the weekend that killed 72 people, including two U.S. citizens and two legal permanent residents,” Price said. “Our thoughts are with the families of those on board.”
“The United States stands ready to support Nepal in any way we can at this difficult hour,” Price added.
A Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, to Pokhara crashed near the Pokhara International Airport on Sunday. All 72 people, including 68 passengers and four crew members, died when they fell into a 300-meter gorge. There were three children and three babies on the plane.
The original list of nationalities of the people on board the flight did not mention Americans. Of the 68 passengers on board the twin-engine plane, 15 were Nepalis, according to a flight manifest shared by the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday. Authorities said the other passengers were from India, Russia, South Korea, Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.
French investigators inspect the wreckage of a passenger plane at the crash site in Pokhara, Nepal, on January 18, 2023.
Yunish Gurung/AP
The plane’s two black boxes – the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – were discovered on Monday. The data recorder will be sent to France to be analyzed, authorities said.
Authorities have not said what they believe killed the plane.
Monday has been declared a day of national mourning in the country.
ABC News’ Britt Clenet and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
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