A Brentwood man has been named among those to have died in a plane crash in Nepal on Sunday (January 15). 

Ruan Crighton was confirmed as a passenger in a list published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, where his nationality was listed as Irish. 

It is understood he was travelling on a UK passport. 

A former ballet dancer, Ruan trained at London’s Central School of Ballet before dancing for the Slovakian National Ballet and then the Finnish Ballet, which he left in 2019. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a student at the European School of Physiotherapy in Amsterdam at the time of his death. 

Ruan told the BBC in a 2008 interview that he had started ballet at a young age, deciding to take up lessons at Brentwood’s Central School of Dance and Drama at the age of 12. 

Organised just before Ruan began working with the Slovakian National Ballet, he said: “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.” 

Among those paying tribute to Ruan was the PE department at his former school, Shenfield High School, which described him on Twitter as a “brilliant” student, and “such a polite and kind young man”. 

A spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs can confirm that an individual indicated in reports as being Irish is a UK national. 

“The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is providing consular support. 

“Our deepest sympathies go to all those who have been affected by this tragic plane crash.” 

An FCDO 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, with the death toll rising to 68 on Sunday. 

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Fifteen foreign nationals were among those on board, according to Nepal’s aviation authority. 

It was not clear what caused the crash, Nepal’s worst air accident in three decades. 

The flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder have been retrieved from the site. 

Additional reporting by PA.