WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Eighteen people on board Nepal's Saurya Airlines plane were killed after the aircraft crashed and caught fire during takeoff from capital Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Only the pilot survived the accident, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
All the victims, including 18 Nepalis and a Yemeni citizen, were employees of Saurya Airlines, reports quoting police said.
The technical staff and crew members of the small plane were reportedly on a test flight to the city of Pokhara.
The plane skidded off the runway at around 11:15 AM local time while trying to takeoff from the Tribhuvan International Airport, the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority's search and rescue coordination center said in a statement.
This tiny south Asian country's aviation industry standards are poor, and fatal accidents are reported almost every year.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
