Nepal plane crash – Doomed passengers’ final moments seen in Facebook live video from cabin as fireball crash kills 68

HORROR video shows passengers on board a plane moments before it crashed in a fireball killing at least 68 people.

A group of five friends on holiday can be heard laughing on a Facebook live stream as the plane comes into land at an airport in Nepal.

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Video from the ground shows the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 appearing to flip over and lose control before smashing into a gorge in Pokhara in the Himalayas.

On board was Sonu Jaiswal, 29, who was heading with four friends to a paragliding holiday They were all reported among the dead.

Footage shows him filming out of the window while one of his friends can be heard saying “it’s a lot of fun” as the rooftops of the city can be seen below.

The landing seems routine until suddenly the screen turns orange and screams are heard as the cabin appears to shake.

The distressing video – which we are not showing in full – then shows the moment of impact and the immediate aftermath.

Sonu’s phone keep broadcasting as crashing noises are heard and then the cabin is consumed by fire.

Sonu’s cousin Rajat Jaiswal said: “Sonu went live on Facebook after boarding the flight to Pokhara.

“The live-streaming showed Sonu and his friends in a good mood, but then flames appeared before the streaming stopped .”

Khum Bahadur Chhetri, a local resident, said he watched from the roof of his house as the flight approached.

“I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly it nosedived and it went into the gorge,” Chhetri said.

The accident is small Himalayan country’s worst crash in nearly five years – and there are fears the already horrific death toll will rise.

Hundreds of rescue workers continued to scour the hillside site where the plane flying from the capital Kathmandu, went down.

Some 68 passengers and four crew are understood to have been on board the plane when it crashed at around 10.50am local time.

Those on board included five Indians, four Russians and one Irish, two South Korean, one Australian, one French and one Argentine national.

The first one of the dead has been named as travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33.

She posted excitedly about her latest trip showing her on a plane with the message in English: “Go to Nepal”.

Her social media was today full of messages of condolences, and she was described as “the brightest, kindest soul we knew”.

Pokhara is Nepal’s second largest city and is tucked under the picturesque Annapurna mountain range.

The journey there from the capital Kathmandu is one of the country’s most popular tourist routes, with many preferring a short flight to a six-hour-long drive.

Soldiers are assisting rescuers is searching the vast crash scene as relatives of those on board desperately await news.

Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.

The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.

The ATR72 is a widely used twin engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.

Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.

Air accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.

The European Union has banned Nepali airlines from its airspace since 2013, citing safety concerns.

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