Plane glitch stops Fire Service rescuers from flying for Nepal

A search and rescue team of Fire Service and Civil Defence could not leave Dhaka for earthquake-hit Nepal due to a technical glitch of an aircraft which was supposed to carry them.

This is for the first time that Fire Service was sending a 22-member member team to another country to help in rescue effort, the department’s director (operations and maintenance) Maj Shakil Newaz told The Daily Star.

Maj Shakil, who is supposed to lead the delegation, said they were supposed to fly at 6:00am, but a technical fault was detected in the aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force.

The plane C-130 was supposed to land at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 8:00am.

Bangladesh Army has already sent six medical teams to the earthquake-ravaged Nepal.

On Wednesday, the Bangladesh Army had to suspend another flight with relief materials as the airport authorities in Kathmandu did not give landing clearance to the aircraft due to shortage of space.

The airport is now very busy as aircraft with relief and medical goods from across the world are flying in to help rescue efforts.

Saturday's devastating quake killed more than 5,000 people and left around 9,200 injured.