A day after 41 villagers were buried in a landslide in northern Ramechap, a Twin Otter on a flight from Jomsom crashed near Pokhara, killing 15 tourists and three Nepali crew. Four hours later, 45 people were feared dead when a bus from Kathmandu to Baglung fell into the Trisuli River near Mugling. It has been a season of disasters, as the country lurches from one accident to the next. Landslides and floods have ravaged central and eastern Nepal, killing at least 500 and affecting more than 300,000 people in the past month.

Thursday's Shangri-la accident (file photo,above) was the fourth air crash in three months. A helicopter carrying 10 trekking guides from Makalu Base Camp to Lukla that disappeared on 29 May has still not been located. Meanwhile, the insurgency rages on, and aside from the daily toll, 30 Maoists were killed in a fierce firefight in Rolpa Tuesday. See On a wing and a prayer