Photo: Collected-
Metropolis Desk-
At least 64 people have been killed after a plane with 72 people on board crashed near an airport in central Nepal.
The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara crashed on landing before catching fire, reports BBC.
64 people are confirmed to have died, police said. Several critically injured survivors were taken to hospital, unconfirmed reports said.
Resident Deeveta Kal told the BBC how she rushed to the crash site after seeing the aircraft plunge from the sky shortly after 11:00 am local time (05:15 GMT).
The flight set out with 68 passengers on board, including at least 15 foreign nationals and four crew members.
Hundreds of Nepalese soldiers are involved in the operation at the crash site in the gorge of the Seti River, just one and a half kilometers from the airport.
Video taken where the plane came down showed thick billowing black smoke and burning debris.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting and urged state agencies to work on rescue operations. A panel to investigate the cause of the crash has been set up.
Of the passengers, 53 are said to be Nepalese. There were five Indian, four Russians, and two Koreans on the plane. There was also one passenger each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina, and France, among others.
