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The plane was en route from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara when it crashed with 72 people on board.
At least 16 people have been killed after a plane 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 200 km (124 miles) west of Kathmandu.
There were 72 people on board the ATR 72 twin-engine plane operated by Nepalese company Yeti Airlines, including two babies, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals, airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said.
“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 crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the plane.
“The responders have already arrived there and are trying to put out the fire. All agencies are now focusing on extinguishing the fire and rescuing passengers,” local official Gurudutta Dhakal said.
The craft made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. (0505 GMT), the aviation authority said in a statement. “Then it crashed.”
“Half the plane is on the side of a hill,” said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he reached the site minutes after the plane went down.
“The other half fell in the gorge of the Seti River.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Kathmandu, Ramyata Limbu said residents of Pokhara claimed the weather and visibility were “good” when the plane crashed.
“So it’s [the crash] shocking and surprising,” Limbu said. “Eyewitnesses said the plane had trouble before crashing into a gorge near the airport.”
Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
“I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 ANC which was flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers,” he posted on Twitter.
“I sincerely call on security personnel, all Nepalese government agencies and the general public to launch 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 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety. Network.
In May, a plane belonging to 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 create dangerous conditions.