Girl’s heartbreak over air-crash victim

Ben Ogden — died in Nepal crash

THE girlfriend of a “generous, caring and fun” man has been left heartbroken by his death in the Nepal plane crash.

Benjamin Ogden (27), a lawyer who was living in London, was one of seven British men killed when a plane heading towards Lukia, the gateway to Mount Everest, crashed killing 19 people.

Benjamin met his girlfriend, Stephanie Illingworth, of Dobcross, at Oxford University eight years ago and the pair instantly fell in love. They had planned their life together before last Friday’s crash.

She said yesterday: “My beloved Ben meant everything to me. We met in Freshers’ week and we were together for the following eight years.

“He died doing what he loved, which was travelling the world. He had always wanted to go to Everest.

“He had just qualified as a lawyer and his family and I were so unbelievably proud of him. He was my soulmate, my best friend, my everything. We were going to get married, have a family and grow old together.”

Reports after Friday’s crash initially suggested the pilot might have been to blame for the tragedy, but Sita Air’s Deependra Shahi said an engine had burst into flames after a bird strike.

Air accident investigators left the UK on Saturday to travel to Kathmandu.

Ben - youngest of the British victims - had recently started work with London-based international law firm Allen & Overy.


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