18 Dead, Pilot Injured as Plane Crashes in Kathmandu

A plane crash in Nepal killed all 18 passengers on board on Wednesday (July 24) and left the pilot injured, police said.

The Saurya Airlines plane crashed during take-off on a test flight from Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu to Pokhara.

“Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner,” police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told the AFP news agency.

“We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.”

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Kathmandu airport general manager Jagannath Niroula told AFP further details were “still being confirmed.”

Footage of the incident showed a large smoke plume with firefighters at the scene.

“Rescue work is going on,” Nepal’s military said.

Nepal’s air safety record

Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 regional jet on domestic routes.

Nepal’s aviation sector has a poor safety record due to insufficient training and maintenance.

The European Union has banned all Nepali airlines from its airspace.

This article was first published on DW.