A BRIT ballet dancer is among the 69 passengers and crew killed in the horrific plane crash in Nepal.
Tributes have been paid to Ruan Crighton who died just one day after his 34th birthday when the plane hit the ground and burst into flames.
He was among the names of passengers published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, where his nationality was originally listed as Irish.
Ruan, from Brentwood in Essex, first joined the Central School of Ballet, London in 2005 and then danced with the Slovak National Theatre from 2008 to 2013.
He then joined the prestigious Finnish National Opera and Ballet company from 2013 to 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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A friend and dancer at Slovak National Theatre paid tribute to him.
"I got the info yesterday, but I was hoping it wasn't him," he told the Irish Daily Mail.
"Ruan was one of my best friends. We dance together on stage for years. I'm devastated.
"It is very hard to say something about [him] right now. But first he was a sunshine."
Back in 2008 the BBC reported that Ruan was "set for stardom".
"His love of ballet started out at a young age when he was introduced to dance during a gymnastics class," the report said.
"Then at 12-years-old he decided to take ballet lessons at Brentwoods Central School of Dance and Drama.
"He is now furthering his career at London’s Central School of Ballet where he will leave with a degree in Professional Dance and Performance.
"Ruan has already taken his first leap to a professional career by accepting a job offer with the Slovakian National Ballet and will move to Slovakia for when he graduates."
At the time he spoke about his excitement and apprehension at the move.
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"I'm nervous because I don't speak Slovak and I've only spent a day there but I'm really looking forward to spending a few years there and dancing as much as possible," he said.
Johanna Järventaus, Communications Director of Finnish National Opera and Ballet, said she was aware of the tragedy.
"We've had a British-born dancer with the same name working at the Finnish National Ballet."
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Nepal and are in contact with the local authorities."
Seventy-two people were on board the Yeti Airlines flight from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara, which crashed into a gorge in the Himalayas.
A total of 69 people have been confirmed dead while authorities are saying chances of finding any survivors are "nil."
Senior local official Tek Bahadur said: "We pray for a miracle. But the hope of finding anyone alive is nil.
"Three bodies still missing. Search paused for today. We will resume the search operation tomorrow morning."
Some 68 passengers and four crew are understood to have been on board the plane when it crashed at around 10.50am local time.
Those on board included five Indians, four Russians and one Irish, two South Korean, one Australian, one French and one Argentine national.
The flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder have been retrieved from the site.
Meanwhile, investigators are looking for the cause of Nepal's deadliest plane crash in 30 years.
Nepal began a national day of mourning Monday as rescue workers continued their search down the gorge where the plane crashed.
A harrowing video showing passengers on board was uploaded on Facebook live just moments before the crash.
Passenger Sonu Jaiswal, 29, and his four friends who were heading on a paragliding holiday were all reported among the dead.
The distressing video shows the moment of impact and the immediate aftermath as the aircraft is engulfed in flames.
Other victims include travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33, from Moscow, who posted a picture of herself on the plane with the caption: "Go to Nepal".
The woman was flying to meet her partner Maxim after she had told her family she was pregnant right before the flight.
Another victim was Viktoria Altunina, 34, a teacher from Rostov-on-Don, who snapped a haunting final picture of queuing passengers one hour before the crash.
She died with her husband Viktor Lygin, 38, and his cousin Yuri Lygin.
Australian Myron William Love is also feared dead as he was among the 15 foreign nationals on board.
It's still not clear what caused the crash, which took place less than a minute's flight from the airport on a mild day with little wind.
Nepals Civil Aviation Authority said the aircraft last made contact with the airport, which began operations only two weeks ago, from near Seti Gorge before crashing.
A spokesperson has said that the pilot did not report "anything untoward" as the plane approached the airport, the BBC has reported.
There was clear visibility across the mountains and no issue with the weather.
Aviation expert Professor Ron Bartsch has suggested the pilot may have misjudged the landing which caused him to stall the plane.
A witness who recorded footage of the plane's descent from his balcony said he saw the plane flying low before it suddenly veered to its left.
"I saw that and I was shocked I thought that today everything will be finished here after it crashes, I will also be dead," said Diwas Bohora.
"After it crashed, red flames erupted and the ground shook violently, like an earthquake. I was scared. Seeing that scene, I was scared."
Another witness named Gaurav Gurung said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began descending to land, watching from the terrace of his house.
He said the plane fell nose-first towards its left and crashed into the gorge.
The crash is Nepal's deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
