Nepali Police has disclosed that the passenger plane that crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killed 18 passengers leavings the pilot in serious injuries.
According to AFP report, Saurya Airlines flight was carrying two crew and 17 of the company’s staff members, Nepali police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said.
“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he said. “Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said the dead foreigner was a Yemeni citizen.
A news release from the airport disclosed that the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after take-off.
The survivor was in serious condition in hospital, it said.
Ram Kumar K.C., who runs a tyre store near the crash site, told AFP the plane caught fire after hitting the ground.
“We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again,” the 48-year-old said.
The flight was being conducted for either technical or maintenance purposes, Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority told AFP, without giving further details.
Images of the aftermath shared by Nepal’s military showed the plane’s fuselage split apart and burnt to a husk.
Around a dozen soldiers in camouflage gear stood on top of the wreckage, the surrounding earth coated in fire retardant.
Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades.
AFP
