Nepal plane with 72 people onboard crashes, at least 16 dead

There were a total of 68 passengers and four crew members on the flight, and rescue operations are ongoing.
Nepal plane with 72 people onboard crashes, at least 16 dead
Nepal plane with 72 people onboard crashes, at least 16 dead
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A Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people including 10 foreigners onboard crashed on Sunday, January 15, while landing at the Pokhara airport, and eight bodies have been recovered according to media reports. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu at 10.33 am. A Nepali Army spokesperson said that at least 16 persons were killed in the incident, Reuters reported. 

While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. There were a total of 68 passengers and four crew members, Republica newspaper reported. The passengers included 10 foreigners, according to the state-run Nepal Television. Eight dead bodies have been found from the accident site, My Republica newspaper reported. According to Tek Bahadur KC, Chief District Officer of the Kaski district, the plane crashed into the Seti river gorge. Rescue operations are currently being conducted, he was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times newspaper.

Details of the accident are yet to come. Images and videos posted on social media platforms showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site. Pokhara is a major tourist destination in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal has had a fraught record of aviation accidents, partly due to its sudden weather changes and airstrips located in hard-to-access rocky terrains.The last major air accident in Nepal happened on May 29 when all 22 people onboard, including four members of an Indian family, were killed as a Tara Air plane crashed in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district.

This is a developing story. 

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