credit, personnel file
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The Sifuentes González family came from northern Mexico
3 hours ago
Members of the Sifuentes González family had few opportunities to travel together. The children were busy studying or working.
That is why the holidays in India were so special for the couple Ismael Sifuentes Rincón and Luz María González Olacio with their children Fernando, María José and Abril Sifuentes González.
But tragically, members of the family from northern Mexico were killed on Tuesday (7/11) when the helicopter they were in crashed in the Mount Everest region of Nepal.
The plane was scheduled to fly to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, but lost contact with the control tower ten minutes into the journey.
The Nepalese pilot Chet Bahadur Gurung was also killed. The Nepalese government has announced an investigation into the causes of the accident.
The days leading up to the trip were very happy for the Mexican family, said Samuel Sifuentes, a relative of the victims.
“They were very happy to be able to make the trip as there were five of them traveling together. Two or three used to travel because Abril was a doctor and it was impossible for the five of them to go out together. And because of that, they were very happy,” Samuel told the Vanguardia newspaper in Coahuila.
“The news hit like a bomb,” complained the relatives. “We learned something very sad from the press.”
The National Cancer Institute of Mexico expressed its condolences on the death of Abril Sifuentes, who was a resident at the facility.
Mexico’s Ambassador to India, Federico Salas, reported that the Sifuentes González family was in India and traveled to Nepal on Sunday, where they hired a transport service “that goes regularly to the Himalayan mountains, particularly Mount Everest.”
The contracted company Everest Experience and Assistance took care of the tour in a helicopter of Manang Air, which had operated the Everest flyover. On the return flight, the plane crashed in the Khumbu region.
Manang Air mourned the pilot’s death: “You may not be here anymore, but you are still in our hearts.” Rest in peace, Captain Chet Bahadur Gurung.
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Parents and children were happy about the trip, they tell their families
“They just wanted to see Everest”
Both Ismael Sifuentes Rincón and Luz González Olacio were well known in San Pedro, a city in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico. The children were born in Monterrey, the Mexican city where the family has lived for the last few decades.
Ismael Sifuentes was a prominent businessman in San Pedro as he was a descendant of one of the community’s founders, Epitacio Sifuentes. Every year they held family reunions in the area.
“They came[to San Pedro]about a year ago and introduced their three children and their wife,” said Samuel Sifuentes.
On social media, Luz María González and her daughter Abril regularly shared photos from their travels to different parts of the world. The doctor posted a photo in front of the Taj Mahal in India on July 4.
The journey to Nepal would be quick: “They only came to see Everest. “They had nowhere else to go, not even to Kathmandu,” said Mukti Pandey, head of the tour company.
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Chet Bahadur Gurung was the Nepalese pilot who commanded the helicopter that crashed in the Khumbu region
“They wanted to experience the Khumbu region and the culture there. They only had one day to do it because they didn’t have much time,” he added.
Lhakpa Sherpa, a local resident who helped with the search and rescue, said he found a “very scary” scene at the crash site.
“We heard the sound of the helicopter. We couldn’t see him because of the clouds. Then he crashed into a tree about a kilometer from our house,” a local resident told the BBC’s Nepal service.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his condolences on Twitter. The Nepalese government announced an investigation and cooperation with Mexico to repatriate the family’s bodies.