Kathmandu, October 8
At least 18 passengers, mostly foreign nationals, died while the pilot, the lone survivor, sustained injuries when an aircraft operated by a private company crashed and caught fire while landing at the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, in the lap of the world’s highest peak Mt Everest, in Solukhumbu district, here this morning.

According to officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and Yeti Airlines, 14 tourists - 12 German nationals and two Australian - and four Nepalis, including the co-pilot and an air hostess, died when the ill-fated Twin Otter (9N-AFE), that took off from Kathmandu to Lukla carrying 19 people on board, crashed while landing in foggy weather conditions at the tiny mountain airport.

Only one crew member, Captain Surendra Kunwar, survived the tragic accident. He has been airlifted to Kathmandu and admitted to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

Mohan Adhikari, general manager of the TIA, said the 19-seater Twin Otter that took off from the capital at 6:51 am snagged its wheels on a security fence during landing at Lukla airport and crashed at around 7:31 am. “The plane caught fire and came to a halt within the airport grounds,” he said. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft burst into flames after crash-landing on the sloping airstrip. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said the visibility at the airport was zero due to foggy weather conditions. Notably, Tenjing-Hillary airport’s runway is just 20 metres wide and is set on a slope, with a steep 700 metres drop at one end.

Meanwhile, the bodies have been brought to Kathmandu by the Nepal Army. Those killed in the crash include A. Frick and C. Kate from Australia, M. Wiess, H. Wiess, A. Thiele, T. Krause, U. Thiele, S. Krause, B. Thorsten, N. Jankoster, A. Blomke, A. Langanke and J. Sauter from Germany, Govinda Sharma and Santosh Adhikari from Nepal, co-pilot Bikash Pant and air hostess Sunita Shrestha.

The government has formed a four-member panel, under co-attorney general Puspha Raj Koirala, to probe the crash. Minister for tourism and civil aviation Hisila Yami said the government has asked the panel to carry out detailed investigation and furnish a report within two months.

Kyoto, October 8
Japanese Nobel Physics laureate Toshihide Maskawa, an introvert devoted to thinking about the Universe, has no passport to go to Stockholm to accept the prize, his wife revealed today.

Maskawa, 68, was one of three physicists to share the prestigious award announced yesterday for his groundbreaking work on fundamental particles. But his wife, Akiko, said Maskawa does not travel overseas and feels “quite allergic to trying to speak English.” “And if he needs to go to the award ceremony, he’ll need first to apply for a passport,” she said at her home in the western city of Kyoto, where Maskawa is a professor of theoretical physics at Kyoto Sangyo University.

Maskawa, bespectacled with grey hair, charmed reporters after the prize was announced by trying to conceal his shyness, at one point sobbing and at another moment forcing such a grin that he stuck out his tongue. He also raised his arms over his head and said to eager reporters, “You’d like me to do this to show I’m happy, right?”

He earlier said that he was not that happy about receiving the Nobel Prize, which will be handed out at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10. “It’s just a society party,” he said. But he backtracked today.

“I play the devil’s advocate, so when somebody tells me to look left, I look right,” he said with a big smile.

“As a scientist, I feel the most pleased when fellow scientists tell me I was right,” he said. “Of course I get happy when I get compliments,” he added. — AFP

Khar (Pakistan), October 8
Pakistan has ordered around 60,000 Afghan refugees to leave a troubled border tribal area where security forces are battling Al-Qaida and Taliban militants, officials said today.

The deportation order for the displaced Afghans in the lawless northwestern region of Bajaur came after a deadline set for them to go back to their homeland expired on Sunday, security officials said.

Pakistan launched an offensive in Bajaur in August and officials allege that many of the refugees, who fled Afghanistan during the years of conflict following the 1979 Soviet invasion, have links to the militants.

"On the orders of the interior ministry, we have launched a crackdown against Afghan refugees who have not left the area," senior government official Abdul Haseeb said.

He said most of the Afghans were in Bajaur illegally, having sneaked back in, two years after returning to Afghanistan under a UN-backed repatriation programme.

"But there are reports about Afghan refugees' involvement in militant and anti-social activities, that is why they were being expelled," Haseeb said.

Pakistani security forces have arrested 40 Afghans and sealed shops owned by Afghans, he said, adding: "There will be no extension in the deadline."

An estimated 30,000 Afghans out of 90,000 living in the troubled district have left since last week's order.

Most hail from the adjoining Afghan province of Kunar, a hotbed of Taliban insurgency. — AFP

Male, October 8
The Maldives’ first-ever multi-party presidential election today was hit by opposition party allegations that the polls had been rigged.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), whose candidate Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed is widely viewed as the strongest challenger to incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said its members were being denied the right to vote.

“I’m getting complaints from all over the Maldives from our party members that their names were not on the electoral list,” said MDP chairperson Mariya Didi, who was also unable to cast her ballot in central Male.

The polls on the Indian Ocean archipelago pit incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, aged 71 and the islands' strongman for the past 30 years, against five rivals.

BRIEFLY

Suicide bomber kills 11 in Baqouba 
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Pak troops kill 20 militants
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12 dead in building collapse 
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Women in tight trousers held
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Man to divorce 82 of 86 wives
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Wreck of 19th century ship found
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