Nepal tourism minister among seven killed in helicopter crash

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 — A helicopter crashed in bad weather in eastern Nepal today, killing all seven people on board, including the tourism minister, a home ministry official said.

A search team recovered the bodies from the crash site in Taplejung, about 300km east of Kathmandu, near the border with India, home ministry spokesman Ram Krishna Subedi said. Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari was among the dead.

Air crashes are common in mostly mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountain peaks, including Mount Everest.

Last year, 51 people were killed when a Bangladeshi passenger plane from Dhaka crashed in Kathmandu. — Reuters