Kathmandu: Eighteen people, including a Yemeni national were killed, and one was injured in a Saurya Airlines aircraft crash at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Issuing a press statement, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the rescue team has recovered the bodies of 18 people, while one person was rescued from the crash site.
The accident occurred during takeoff at 11:15 AM as the flight was departing for Pokhara from Kathmandu. The Bombardier plane, with the call sign 9N-AME CRJ 200, had 19 people on board, including the technical team and crew members.
According to police, 37-year-old Captain Manish Shakya was rescued and transported to the Singamangal-based KMC Hospital.
Eyewitnesses say that the plane was taking off from the southern end of the runway when it suddenly flipped, with the wing tip hitting the ground. The aircraft caught fire immediately and then plunged into a gorge on the eastern side of the runway.
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