A small plane carrying 23 people that went missing in a mountainous area in Nepal amid poor visibility has been found crashed at a forest in Soli Ghoptebhir of Myagdi district after four hours of search and rescue operations.
Locals found the aircraft aflame in Dana VDC-2, Solighopte area.
The wreckage of a passenger plane that went missing in Nepal on Wednesday with 23 people on board has been found, the aviation minister said.
“The wreckage of the plane was found in a completely burnt state in Solighopte in Myagdi district,” Aananda Prasad Pokharel told AFP, adding that bodies could be seen scattered around the wreckage.
The Twin-Otter aircraft belonging to Tara Air went missing minutes after it took off from Pokhara airport on way to Jomsom.
A police team has left for the area, according to SSP Mahendra Kumar Pokharel.
Pokhara is a resort town some 200 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu. Jomsom, a short distance further north, is the starting point for many people trekking in the Himalayas.
There were 23 people, including three crew members, two children and two foreigners, on board, officials said.
One passenger was later confirmed to be from China and another a Kuwaiti national. All the others were from Nepal and two were children.
Three helicopters have been dispatched from Kathmandu for search operations and Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police personnel were mobilised for the same purpose.Local residents said they heard a huge sound of explosion and fire in the remote mountainous area.
Since 1949 – the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal – there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people have been killed.
@Agency report.
