Cincunri Sakia

Senin, 16 Januari 2023

Nepal plane crash: Pilot didn’t report anything untoward, official says - BBC

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By Rajini Vaidyanathan in Pokhara

BBC News

The pilot of the flight that crashed in Nepal did not report "anything untoward" as the plane approached the airport, a spokesman said.

Anup Joshi said that the "mountains were clear and visibility was good", adding there was a light wind and "no issue with weather".

There were 72 passengers and crew aboard the Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara which crashed on Sunday.

No one is believed to have survived.

Mobile phone footage showed the plane rolling sharply as it approached the airport. It then hit the ground in the gorge of the Seti River, just over a kilometre from the airport.

The pilot asked for a change from the assigned runway 3 to runway 1, which was granted by the airport, Mr Joshi said.

"We could operate from the both runways. The plane was cleared for landing," the Pokhara airport spokesman said.

It was "very unfortunate" that the incident happened 15 days after the airport had opened for business, Mr Joshi added.

The crash is the country's deadliest plane crash in 30 years.

Searchers earlier said they had given up hope of finding survivors.

Local official Tek Bahadur said the chances of finding anyone alive were "nil". However the plane's flight data and voice recorders had been found, he said.

"We have collected 68 bodies so far. We are searching for four more bodies," said Mr Bahadur, chief district officer in the Taksi district.

The prime minister of Nepal has declared Monday a national day of mourning, and the government set up a panel to investigate the cause of the disaster.

Rescue teams working near the wreckage at the crash site of a Yeti Airlines ATR72 aircraft in Pokhara, central Nepal, on 15 January 2023

Local resident Divya Dhakal told the BBC how she rushed to the crash site after seeing the aircraft plunge from the sky shortly after 11:00am local time (05:15 GMT).

"By the time I was there the crash site was already crowded. There was huge smoke coming from the flames of the plane. And then helicopters came over in no time," she said.

"The pilot tried his best to not hit civilisation or any home," she added. "There was a small space right beside the Seti River and the flight hit the ground in that small space."

Aviation accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, often due to its remote runways and sudden weather changes that can make for hazardous conditions.

This Himalayan nation, home to some of the most breath-taking mountains in the world, has some of the most difficult terrain to navigate.

A lack of investment in new aircraft and poor regulation have also been blamed in the past.

The European Union has banned Nepalese airlines from its airspace over concerns about training and maintenance standards.

In May 2022 a Tara Air plane crashed in northern Nepal, killing 22 people. Four years earlier 51 people were killed when a flight travelling from Bangladesh caught fire as it landed in Kathmandu.

Chiranjibi Paudel, whose journalist brother Tribhuvan was on the flight, said action had to be taken to improve aviation safety in Nepal.

"The airlines should be penalised and the regulatory body of the government also should be held accountable," he said.

The plane came down close to the newly built Pokhara International Airport, which only opened at the start of the year.

Travellers at the airport told the BBC they fly regularly and still feel safe after today's news - short plane journeys are a popular way for Nepal's middle classes to travel across the country.

"I'm not scared of flying," said Ria who was waiting for her bags to arrive, "but there needs to be better regulations and newer aircraft."

The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara left the Nepalese capital just after 10:30 (04:45 GMT) for what should have been a short trip.

It had 68 passengers on board, including at least 15 foreign nationals, and four crew members.

Of the passengers, 53 were said to be Nepalese. There were five Indian, four Russians and two Koreans on the plane. There was also one passenger each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France among others.

Khum Bahadur Chhetri, a local resident, told Reuters that he was observing the flight from the roof of his home as it approached the airport.

"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly it nosedived and it went into the gorge," added.

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2023-01-16 08:48:05Z
1741442006

Andrew Tate: Romanian police widen probe into controversial influencer - BBC

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, on 10 January 2023

By Lucy Williamson

BBC News, Bucharest

Romanian police are expanding their investigation into former kickboxing champion Andrew Tate, seizing a fleet of luxury cars from his Bucharest compound over the weekend, and raiding seven more properties - including a newly renovated villa beneath the Carpathian Mountains.

The sight of Mr Tate's shiny dove-grey Porsche perched delicately on the battered frame of a police tow truck neatly captured his shift in fortunes as, through the high black gates of his compound, a slow procession of trucks carried his prized collection of luxury cars to join him in police custody.

At the side of the road, a single fan stood watching. "I consider myself a fan," Emmanuel told me. "Every boy likes his lifestyle.

"I don't like what I'm hearing about him, but we'll see if it's true. I'll change my attitude if I see proof."

Some here see the confiscation of the cars as a sign that the Romanian authorities are preparing for the next stage in this case, securing assets as collateral against potential compensation claims from victims, in the event that Andrew Tate or his brother Tristan are charged with people trafficking.

Raids on seven more properties last week are widely seen as a sign that investigators are expanding their search for evidence in the case.

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In the town of Comarnic, two hours' drive to the north, the Tate villa, freshly raided by police on Thursday, towers over the houses around it. Small homemade sheds perch against the high walls that surround the property.

Neighbours here say the property was fully renovated last year, and only completed a few months ago.

Trandafir Beldica lives in a worn housing block beside the main gate to the villa.

"The guy in charge of the construction asked me to work on the electrics, but when they explained what they wanted, I told them it was way beyond what I knew how to do," Trandafir told me.

Inside, he said, the house has "all the amenities you can think of".

"It's extremely luxurious," he explained. "It's divided into flats [and] they could afford to build a swimming pool - things that people like us couldn't even dare to dream of."

How Andrew Tate made his money is a key part of this investigation.

Police want to know whether he lured women to Romania with promises of a serious relationship or marriage, before forcing or manipulating them into working for him as models in adult entertainment chat rooms.

They are also looking into rape allegations made by one of the witnesses.

Investigators have confirmed that six women have been identified as potential victims. But last week, two of the women in the investigation publicly denied any mistreatment by the Tate brothers.

Porsche being taken away on police tow truck at Andrew Tate's compound in Bucharest

The women - who have tattoos reading "Property of Tate" and "Tate Girl" - worked in the compound in Bucharest, where Andrew Tate lived with his brother and the models who staffed his adult web-cam business.

Speaking to Romania's Antena 1 TV channel, one of the women - identified as Beatrice - said she had been "good friends" with the Tate brothers for two years and had "Tate Girl" tattooed on her arm "out of respect for them".

The other woman - Jasmin - said she had never seen Mr Tate or his brother Tristan be "aggressive or rude".

The BBC has verified their identities with a former member of Tate staff.

"I was never threatened," Beatrice said. "If I was, I wouldn't be stupid enough to stay in that house.

"You can't describe me as a victim in the case file if I'm not a victim."

Describing the moment police first entered the compound in December, Beatrice said 20 police officers charged in and went upstairs to a bedroom where, she says, two other women had locked themselves inside the room in fear of the raid.

"They broke the door down. [The women] screamed," Beatrice said.

"But the police didn't see that the key to the bedroom was lying on the bed."

BBC News has spoken to others who have different memories of the raid.

There is little clarity about what evidence investigators have gathered so far. And among the Tates' former associates, claims, counter-claims and conspiracy theories exist side-by-side.

The Tate villa in the town of Comarnic, north of Bucharest

No charges have yet been brought, but Mihaela Dragus, spokeswoman for Romania's National Anti-Trafficking Agency, says the case is already sending a strong message to both traffickers and victims.

"The fact that the justice system has decided to keep the brothers in custody, even during the preliminary phase of the [case], sends a very important message," she says.

In one of his social media videos, Andrew Tate explains why he moved to Romania in 2017.

"One of [my reasons] is the #MeToo era," he says. "People say: 'Oh you are a rapist'. No, I am not a rapist, but I like the idea of being able to do what I want, I like being free."

"If she goes to the [Romanian] police and says: 'He raped me yesterday', they'll say ok, do you have evidence? Is there CCTV proof?"

None of this is evidence that Mr Tate was involved in human trafficking or rape, but his assessment of Romania's attitude to sexual crimes is not wrong, says Laura Stefan, a legal expert and prominent anti-corruption campaigner working with the Expert Forum think tank.

"In a way, he's right," she told me. "Listening to him, the way he explained why he came here, I could relate to that; I thought he made a good calculation - unfortunately."

But she says things are changing.

"Romania has a serious problem with trafficking, and I think the Romanian authorities have come to understand that this has to be dealt with," she explained.

"That means not only investigating a handful of hotshots, but also working with the victims and providing them with support."

Last year, Romania made enough progress for the US Trafficking In Persons report to take it off their watchlist.

But the report also repeated concerns about Romanian officials themselves being involved in people trafficking.

This case, involving a controversial, high-profile personality with US-British citizenship, has put a fresh spotlight on how Romania handles allegations of organised crime and sexual exploitation.

Police have less than two weeks to charge the Tate brothers, or find enough evidence to convince a judge to extend their detention while the investigation continues.

Andrew Tate's reputation is on the line. Romania's is too.

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2023-01-16 06:09:42Z
1732179948

Nepal plane crash: No hope of finding survivors, official says - BBC

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By Rajini Vaidyanathan in Pokhara & Alexandra Fouché

BBC News

Searchers say they have given up hope of finding survivors after Nepal's worst air disaster in decades.

Local official Tek Bahadur said the chances of finding anyone alive were "nil". However the plane's flight data and voice recorders had been found, he said.

There were 72 passengers and crew aboard the Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara which crashed on Sunday.

It is unclear what caused the crash.

"We have collected 68 bodies so far. We are searching for four more bodies," said Mr Bahadur, chief district officer in the Taksi district.

It is the country's deadliest plane crash in 30 years.

Mobile phone footage showed the Yeti Airlines flight rolling sharply as it approached the airport. It then hit the ground in the gorge of the Seti River, just over a kilometre from the airport.

There were 72 passengers and crew on board the flight.

On Monday some 300 rescuers resumed their search, combing through the charred wreckage.