MACCLESFIELD MAN VICTIM OF NEPAL PLANE CRASH

Tributes have been paid to four people from the north west who were among seven Britons killed in a plane crash in Nepal.

Among the victims were Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington, and brothers Vincent and Darren Kelly, aged 50 and 45, from Lostock, near Bolton.

Nepalese police said the Britons were killed along with five Chinese people, as well as three passengers and four crew members from the Himalayan country.

The twin-engine propeller plane crashed shortly after take-off near Nepal`s capital, Kathmandu.

Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash and identify the bodies, and Mr Suman said he could not confirm if the plane was already on fire before it crashed.

Reports suggested the accident was caused by a bird strike.

The wife of Timothy Oakes, Angie Gaunt, speaking from the semi-detached family home in the Cheshire village of Winwick, said her husband worked in education and she and their daughter were mourning their loss.

“I believe my husband died . . . and the Home Office have confirmed that because he was due to be on that aeroplane this morning,” Mrs Gaunt said.

“Tim was a mountaineer. He lived life to the full and died doing something he always wanted to do. It should never deter people from living out their dreams.
“He was a mountaineer and he always wanted to go to Everest base camp, not climb it, to go to the base camp, and that`s what he was doing. He was going because he always wanted to see Everest. It was the trip of a lifetime, he had always wanted to do it.”

Mr Oakes` sister-in-law, speaking at her Warrington home, said the whole family was “devastated” at the news.

“As you can imagine my sister is very distressed,” she added. She did not give her name.

Vincent Kelly, 50, was a keen fundraiser for Bolton Lads and Girls Club where he had been a member since his youth.

Mr Kelly