KATHMANDU:
Charred bodies of all eight soldiers onboard the US Marine chopper that crashed in a remote hilly area while delivering aid in quake-hit Nepal have been recovered as a tremor of moderate intensity and seven milder aftershocks jolted the battered nation today.
The latest 5.5-magnitude aftershock was felt across the border in India and Bangladesh, triggering a fresh wave of panic among the devastated people in Nepal who have been forced to stay in the open for over three weeks now.
Earlier today, seven milder aftershocks were felt as death toll from the Tuesday temblor rose to 136.
Nepal Army rescue team spotted wrecked parts of the US Marine Corps UH-1 Huey, that went missing from the remote and rugged area of Gorthali village in Sindhupalchowk district since Tuesday when the second powerful temblor struck, yesterday on a steep slope of the mountainside.
Three of the eight bodies were recovered from its wreckage yesterday soon after it was located.
The parts of the Huey – a helicopter dating back to the Vietnam War era – were found scattered around at 11,200-feet altitude, Nepal Army said.
Eight bodies have also been recovered from the crash site – all of them charred and in a state beyond recognition, the Army said in a statement.
The remains would soon be transferred to Kathmandu, Nepal Army spokesman Jagadish Pokharel said. (AGENCIES)
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