Nepal plane crash: Four delegates who opted out of mountain trip escape death

The four delegates of the Builders Association of India who didn't extend their official Delhi trip to Kathmandu are shocked at the tragedy that struck their team members. Of the 12 people who attended the association's general body meeting in Delhi on Thursday and Friday representing the Trichy chapter, eight went on the ill-fated tour of Kathmandu after the meeting.

R Saravanan, the general council member of BAI, flew back from Delhi as he had another meeting in Trichy scheduled for Saturday. "I was in touch with them. On Saturday night, MV Maruthachalam talked to me on phone about the mountain-view flight trip planned for Sunday. They were all excited. He told me in detail about the places they went to in Kathmandu. Although I was called for the Kathmandu trip, I couldn't join them as I had to reach Trichy on Saturday," said Saravanan.

In the two days that the 12-member team stayed in Delhi, they went around the capital. "We lost everyone who contributed to BAI and the building sector in our region. We even lost our chairman M Manimaran, who headed the trip to Kathmandu," he said.

AK Yussouf, the former chairman of BAI's Trichy chapter, said he did not join the team to Delhi as he had to attend a meeting in Chennai on Saturday. "The reports coming from Nepal are shocking and I could not believe that eight of our members have died. It is the most unfortunate incident for us," he said. Yussouf said that A Puhazhenthi, a delegate who didn't join the team heading to Kathmandu, was returning back from Delhi after the conference. "We have informed him of the accident".