At least 40 people died on Sunday (15) when a domestic flight crashed in Pokhara, Nepal, in the worst accident in the small Himalayan country in nearly five years.
Hundreds of rescue workers are searching the hillside where the Yeti Airlines flight carrying 72 people crashed.
Local TV showed rescue workers around broken sections of the aircraft. Part of the ground near the crash site was burned, with visible flames.
“The plane is on fire,” said police officer Ajay KC, adding that rescuers were struggling to reach the scene, in a gorge between two hills near the resort town’s airport.
The aircraft made contact with Seti Gorge Airport at 10:50 am local time, the local aviation authority said in a statement.
“Half of the plane is on the slope,” said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he arrived at the scene minutes after the plane went down.
The accident is the deadliest in Nepal 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 the Aviation Safety Network.
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 create dangerous conditions.
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