Kathmandu: The government will conduct a high-level probe into the collapse of a runway at Nepal’s only international airport in the capital that forced many flights to be diverted to New Delhi and Dhaka.
“We are setting up a high-level committee to investigate the matter and the committee will present its report within a week,” Tourism, and Civil Aviation Minister Man Bahadur Bishwokarma, who visited the airport for an inspection, told reporters on Friday.
The collapse of the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), situated in the heart of the Kathmandu Valley on the outskirts of the capital, few days ago due to heavy rain had forced the authorities to cancel flights and divert planes to New Delhi and Dhaka on Tuesday.
The 12,000-feet runway of TIA, situated 5.5 km east of Kathmandu, collapsed just three months after it was repaired.
Meanwhile, cargo plane of private airline Tara Air crash landed at the Simikot airport in the remote Humla hilly district of northern Nepal on Friday.
The Dornier 228, which took off from Nepalgunj, skidded off the runway while landing at Humla, according to Tara Air officials.
Although the accident caused minor damage to the wings of the aircraft, the three crew members, including pilot BR Niraula, are safe. (PTI)
Facebook posts by Israeli PM’s son draw fire
Jerusalem: An Israeli paper says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son has posted disparaging comments about Arabs and Muslims on his Facebook page.
The daily Haaretz found that earlier this year 19-year-old Yair Netanyahu posted that Muslims “celebrate hate and death.”
He wrote after Palestinians killed five members of an Israeli family that “terror has a religion and it is Islam,” according to the paper.
Haaretz also reported on Friday that after ethnic clashes in 2008, Yair called for a boycott of Arab businesses.
A lawyer for the Netanyahu family, David Shimron, said the comments were those of a “teenager” and were “taken out of context in an attempt to defame the prime minister and his family.”
Haaretz said the comments were quickly removed. (AP)
