Sonu Jaiswal captured a 90-second video with a smartphone showing the plane approaching the runway at Pokhara shortly before the crash.
In the Indian city of Ghazipur, Sonu Jaiswal’s family is distraught and still awaiting the identification of his body.
Jaiswal’s brother, Deepak Jaiswal, said: “It’s been a tough wait.
Sonu Jaiswal, 25 years old, was on a Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu rush into a canyon just before it was scheduled to land in Pokhara on Sunday, killing all 72 people on board.
Moments before the crash, Jaiswal livestreamed the plane’s landing on Facebook.
🚨Activation Alert🚨#NepalPlaneCrash | A chilling video has surfaced online showing Indian passenger Sonu Jaiswal streaming a #Facebook moments directly before the plane crashed.
According to reports, at least 66 people were killed in the accident, including five Indians. pic.twitter.com/SFuXnF3pCy
– Money control (@moneycontrolcom) January 16, 2023
The 90-second smartphone video begins with the plane approaching the runway by flying over buildings and green fields over Pokhara, a Nepalese city in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Everything looks normal as Jaiswal’s video shifts from the picturesque view from the plane’s window to the smiling passengers. Finally, Jaiswal, wearing a yellow sweater, turns the camera towards himself and smiles.
Then it happened.
The plane suddenly veered to the left as Jaiswal’s phone quickly picked up on the voices of the passengers. Within seconds, the footage becomes shaky and captures the screeching sound of an engine. Towards the end of the video, huge flames and smoke engulf the frame.
Jaiswal’s brother, Deepak, said news of Jaiswal’s plane crashing in Pokhara reached his home just minutes after the crash when news channels started broadcasting images of the plane’s wreckage, still burning and emitting dense gray smoke.
However, the family is still not ready to believe the news, raising hopes of his survival.
By Sunday night, however, it all became clear. Deepak, who confirmed the authenticity of Jaiswal’s live stream to the Associated Press news agency, was one of the first in his family to see the video that went viral on the internet.
“We couldn’t believe it until we saw the video,” he said. “It was painful.”
Their father, Rajendra Prasad Jaiswal, arrived in Kathmandu on Monday night to receive his son’s body.
Sonu Jaiswal, a father of three, works at a liquor store in Alawalpur Afga village in Ghazipur, a district in northern Uttar Pradesh state nearly 430 kilometers from the crash site in Nepal.
Deepak said his brother had come to Kathmandu to visit Pashupatinath Temple – a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva – and pray for a son, before setting off to Pokhara for a visit with three other friends.
“He’s not just my brother,” Deepak said. I lost a friend in him.
Sunday’s crash is part of a deadly pattern in Nepal, a country that has seen series of air accidents over the years, partly due to rough terrain, bad weather, and aging fleets.
The tragedy was felt acutely in the Himalayan nation, which was home to 53 passengers.
Officials said Wednesday no chance look for any survivors about the country’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years, but workers will continue to search for the remains of the last missing passenger.
“There is no possibility of finding any survivors. We have collected 71 bodies so far. Tek Bahadur KC, a top district official in Pokhara, said the search for the last person would continue.
