A passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Wednesday, killing 18 people.
The pilot was the only survivor. The crash happened at Tribhuvan International Airport, and the plane was a Saurya Airlines flight.
Nepali police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said, “The pilot has been rescued and is being treated. Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.”
The flight was carrying two crew members and 17 of the airline’s staff. The plane was reportedly on a flight for technical or maintenance purposes, according to Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority. He did not provide additional details.
Images from the scene show the plane’s fuselage split apart and burnt. The military’s quick response team helped with the rescue efforts. The crash occurred around 11:15 am local time, and the plane had caught fire after skidding on the runway, according to news portal Khabarhub.
The plane was scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara, a major tourism destination in Nepal. Saurya Airlines operates Bombardier CRJ 200 jets, as noted on its website.
Nepal has a history of aviation accidents due to challenging geography and insufficient safety measures. The European Union has banned Nepali carriers from its airspace because of these safety concerns.
The last major commercial flight accident in Nepal was in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed while landing in Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board. This recent crash is one of several tragic incidents in the country’s aviation history.
Nepal’s mountainous terrain and rapidly changing weather make flying in the region particularly hazardous, contributing to the country’s poor aviation safety record.
