Kin of five out of 18 killed in the Saurya Airlines crash have received the bodies of their relatives as of Friday afternoon.

Relatives of some of the deceased have refused to receive the bodies demanding that the government and airlines finalise compensation and insurance issues first. The officials had planned to hand over the bodies after their postmortem was complete.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Amar Thapa of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj, the bodies of Uddhav Puri, Ashwin Niraula, Shyam Bindukar, co-pilot Sushant Katuwal, and Rajaram Acharya have been received by their relatives.

Most of the bodies were identified by Friday afternoon. However, there have been issues in identifying the severely charred bodies, according to doctors.

The Forensic Department called in doctors from Patan Hospital, Dhulikhel Hospital, Bhaktapur Hospital and Pokhara to assist with the identification process. A large team of doctors worked to identify the victims as quickly as possible, according to officials.

Forensic experts said that establishing the identities of air crash victims is a complex, time-consuming process.

Dr Gopal Chaudhary, head of the forensic department at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, said initiatives are taken to hand over the identified bodies to their relatives.

A total of 18 people, including a crew member, were killed when a Pokhara-bound 9N-AME aircraft of Saurya Airlines crashed immediately after takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.

Saurya Airlines officials have committed that the company would provide as much support as possible to the victims’ kin.

“We assure the victims’ families that we will provide all possible support and assistance,” Saurya Airlines Chairman Dipak Kumar Pokharel said in a statement on Friday.

Meanwhile, Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, who was injured in the crash, has been moved from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward.

Professor Dr Meena Thapa, director of the Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital, said that Shakya had been shifted to a general ward following improvement in his health.

Shakya was being treated in the ICU for observation after receiving initial treatment in the emergency section. The hospital said Captain Shakya’s condition is now stable and improving.

According to Thapa, Shakya is being monitored by neurologists and orthopaedic specialists.

“He has injuries to his face, eyes, nose, and head. Additionally, one of his spinal bones and three ribs on the left side are fractured,” she said, adding that they were still undecided on whether to perform a surgery on him.

Shakya is the lone survivor of Wednesday’s crash