At least 18 bodies have been recovered from the small plane that caught fire after it skidded off the runway on take-off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday, according to media reports and officials.
The pilot was rescued and is being treated in hospital.
The plane, operated by local carrier Saurya Airlines, was transporting two crew members and 17 technicians to the city of Pokhara for maintenance, airport security chief Arjun Chand Thakuri said.
“The plane went off the runway and crashed into a field east of the runway,” Thakuri confirmed, according to Reuters. The fire that started in the accident was extinguished by the emergency services called.
