KATHMANDU, March 14: A neurosurgeon and 12 to-be-doctors lost their lives in the US-Bangla aircraft crash on Monday, while two seriously injured medical students have been struggling to survive.

A total of 14 medical students studying MBBS in Bangladesh were returning to their homes in Nepal. But 12 of them died in the accident. Two of them are receiving treatment at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital.

Among the 14 medical students, 13 were from a Bangladesh-based medical college. The 13 Nepali students studying MBBS at Ragib Rabeya Medical College in Sylhet were on board the US-Bangla Airlines plane which crashed in Kathmandu on Monday, according to the Dhaka Tribune.

Of the 13 students from the Ragib Rabeya Medical College, 11 students who lost their lives are Algina Baral, Charu Baral, Purnima Lobani, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Sanjay Maharjan, Sanjay Poudyal, Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Saruna Shrestha, and Shweta Thapa. Two medical students -- Samira Byanjankar and Princy Dhami are among the survivors and they are now receiving treatment at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital.

Shreya Jha was another student of Kumudini Women's Medical College of Bangladesh. Jha is also reported to be among the 49 dead.

After completion of five years of study, the medical students were returning home for about two months before beginning their internships in Bangladesh for a year.

The aggrieved parents and friends of the victim students are struggling to come to terms with the deaths of their near and dear ones. Algina's parents, who had sold their home at Koteshwor in Kathmandu to fulfill her dream to become a doctor, are in a great grief. 

"We lived, studied, played and dined together for five years," said Subas Acharya, who had bid farewell to his classmates returning home, wishing them a happy journey. Acharya who plans to visit Nepal on Wednesday, said, "I am unable to talk about the immeasurable loss of my roommate. We will never see the happiness of laughing together again."

"The college is mourning the loss of our friends and has been closed for three days," said Ranjit Singh, who hails from Biratnagar. Singh is one of the students in the Bangladesh-based medical college. "I could not sleep on Monday night due to the pain from the tragedy. Some did not have their meals too," Singh said, adding that about 300 more Nepali students have been studying in the medical college.

Ashna, 23, of Sinchahity of Lalitpur, who has an elder sister and younger brother, was good in her studies, according to her uncle Tej Prakash Shakya's family members. "Ashna studied in Gyanodaya School, Lalitpur and chose to study medical science alone from her family with business background," they said.

The family members and relatives of Sanjaya Poudel are yet to receive the news of his death. "We have not informed Sanjaya's mother about the incident. The neighbors also have not talked about it," said his maternal uncle Maheshwor Parajuli "He was good enough and kind-hearted." His mother lives at Jarebar of Pokhara. Sanjaya's father Damodar, who has a business of trekking goods at Pokhara lakeside, is in Kathmandu to receive Sanjaya's body.

 
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