Nepal website reports wrong Robredo crash data

MANILA, Philippines - Was it lost in translation?

The nepalnews.com made a wrong report on the plane crash that killed Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and two pilots, including Nepalese student-pilot Kshitiz Chand.

Citing Air Transport Office, the report showed that a “high-winged Fokker 27 plane” had plunged into Manila Bay three minutes after taking off from Manila to Laoag. The report was posted last Aug. 20.

The report further showed that 14 of the 29 passengers and five crewmembers were killed.

“Sixteen people were rescued while four remained unaccounted. Several of the dead were children, including an 11-year-old boy whose body was found still bound to his seat,” the report stated. 

On Aug. 18, Robredo, along with Chand, Capt. Jessup Bahinting and aide-de-camp June Abrazado left Mactan-Cebu International Airport around 3 p.m. on board Aviatour Air’s Piper Seneca bound for Naga City.

According to lone survivor Abrazado, the light plane crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing at the Masbate airport.

Robredo’s body was retrieved on Aug. 21 in waters 180 feet deep, roughly 800 meters from the shoreline, while Bahinting’s remains were recovered yesterday.

A surface search team continues to search for the body of Chand.