Passenger aircraft crashes on runway of Pokhara Airport, 16 killed

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An ATR 72 aircraft of the Yeti Airlines crashed today in Pokhara in Nepal. According to the initial reports, the aircraft flew from Kathmandu to Pokhara on Sunday morning and the accident took place while landing at the Pokhara airport. There was a total of 68 passengers and four crew members.

At least 16 people were killed on Sunday when an aircraft crashed in western Nepal's Pokhara, an army spokesman said, as hundreds of rescue workers scoured the hillside crash site.

"We expect to recover more bodies," Krishna Bhandari told Reuters. "The plane has broken into pieces."

There were 72 people on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals, said airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.

"We don't know their nationalities," he said. "We are trying to ascertain it." Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal calls an emergency Cabinet Meeting after plane crash.

Rescue operations are underway and the airport is closed for the time being. A total of 68 passengers and four crew members were on board the Yeti airlines aircraft that crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport, Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesperson of Yeti Airlines as reported by The Kathmandu Post.

The plane crashed between the old and new Pokhara airports in central Nepal.

The wreckage was on fire and rescue workers were trying to put out the blaze, said local official Gurudutta Dhakal.

"Responders have already reached there and trying to douse the fire. All agencies are now focused on first dousing the fire and rescuing the passengers," Dhakal said. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu at 10:33 am.

While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. There were a total of 68 passengers and four crew members, República newspaper reported

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