At least 18 people have been confirmed dead following the crash of a passenger plane in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital on Wednesday, AFP reported.
The small plane crashed on takeoff with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage, but all 18 others aboard were killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.
The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to Pokhara city to repair another aircraft, when the incident occurred.
“Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
The plane was in the air when it turned right and crashed in the eastern section of the airport, the statement added.
TV broadcasts have shown the plane flying a little above the runway and then tilting before it crashed.
They also showed firefighters trying to put out the flaming wreckage as thick black smoke rose into the sky.
Nepal has been criticised for a poor air safety record, with nearly 350 people having died in plane or helicopter crashes in the Himalayan country since 2000.
The deadliest incident occurred in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people.
Peoplesmind