Last rites of late Minister of State for Soil and Forest Conversation, Gopal Rai, who died in a deadly chopper crash along with 23 others on Saturday, were performed at the Pashupati Sleshmantak Forest, Kathmandu, amidst state honour Thursday afternoon.

The funeral procession of late Rai and his wife Mina passed through different streets of the capital city. Before being taken for last rites, the bodies of Rai couple were kept at the Nepali Congress (NC) central office at Sanepa where Prime Minister GP Koirala, ministers, Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and leaders and cadres of the Nepali Congress and various other parties paid final tribute to the departed souls.

Rai, who hailed from Okhaldhunga, was a NC leader.

A well-wisher of the 24 deceased people in the tragic helicopter crash offering khada, a holy cloth on their portraits in a condolence program organized by the World Wildlife Fund in Kathmandu, Thursday, Sep 28 06. nepalnews.com/rh

A well-wisher of the 24 deceased people in the tragic helicopter crash offering…
A meeting of the council of Ministers on Tuesday had decided to perform the last rites of late state minister Rai with state honour.

Meanwhile, doctors at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital identified the bodies of three other victims of the chopper crash today with the help of families and relatives.

The bodies of Mingma Sherpa, Dr Harka Gurung, Dr Tirtha Man Maskey that were identified today were handed over to the families and relatives.

Last rites of Maskey were performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat in the afternoon.

Remaining dead bodies have been dismembered beyond recognition, according to search and rescue workers who brought the bodies from the crash site, Gyabla of Taplejung.

Aviation minister Pradeep Gyawali told a press conference yesterday that DNA test would be conducted to identify the bodies.