Ashish Puri/AP
A passenger plane of Nepalese Yeti Airlines crashed on Sunday near the country’s Pokhara city, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.
There were 68 passengers and 4 crew members on board the plane. The crash occurred on takeoff.
All the 72 people who were on board the crashed passenger plane in Nepal were killed, the News-18 TV channel reported.
Earlier it was reported about at least 40 casualties.
There were four Russians on board the crashed plane .
At least 32 people were killed on Sunday when a 72-seat passenger aircraft crashed in Pokhara, a resort town in central Nepal, an official said.
Rescuers were scouring the crash site near Pokhara International Airport and expected to find more bodies, said Tek Bahadur K. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported, quoting a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the plane was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara and he urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.
Pokhara, located 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking trail in the Himalayas.
Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft. Nepalese soldiers were also involved in the rescue efforts at the crash site.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash.
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
“Responders have already reached there and trying to douse the fire. All agencies are now focused on first dousing the fire and rescuing the passengers,” local official Gurudutta Dhakal said.
The craft made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50am (05:05 GMT), the aviation authority said in a statement. “Then it crashed.”
“Half of the plane is on the hillside,” said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he reached the site minutes after the plane went down.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Kathmandu, Ramyata Limbu said locals in Pokhara asserted weather and visibility was “good” when the plane crashed.
“So its (the crash) shocking and surprising,” said Limbu. “Eyewitnesses said the plane was having problems before it crashed into a gorge close to the airport.”
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
“I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of Yeti Airlines ANC ATR 72 which was flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers,” he posted on Twitter.
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue.”
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue.”
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.
In May, a plane owned by Tara Air crashed less than 20 minutes after taking off from Pokhara.
At least 309 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal – home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest – where the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
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