BREAKING: 16 Dead As Plane Crashes With 72 Passengers On Board In Nepal

At least 16 people have been killed after an aircraft carrying 72 people crashed in Nepal.

The plane was flying from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara on Sunday when it crashed. Pokhara is a bustling tourist town about 200km (124 miles) west of Kathmandu.

According to the Airline spokesman, Sudarshan Bartaula, there were 72 people on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals.

“We expect to recover more bodies,” Army spokesman, Krishna Bhandari, told Reuters news agency.

Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowd 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,” a local official, Gurudutta Dhakal, said.

Nepal Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement also said.

Recall that in May, 2022, a plane owned by Tara Air crashed less than 20 minutes after taking off from Pokhara, headed to Jomsom – a popular trekking and pilgrimage destination in Mustang district bordering Tibet.

Also, in 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people on board.