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A plane crash in Nepal killed 18 people and hospitalized the pilot.

By: Adisa Deborah

On Wednesday, a passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu, killing all 18 people on board, according to police in Nepal’s capital.

 

Nepal has a poor track record in aviation safety, with several tragic light planes and helicopter crashes.

 

According to Nepali police spokesman Dan Karki, the Saurya Airlines flight had two crew members and 17 employees on board.

 

“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he told reporters. “Eighteen bodies have been found, including one foreigner. We are in the process of transporting them for post-mortem.”

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the dead foreigner was a Yemeni citizen.

According to the airport’s news release, the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after takeoff.

 

According to the report, the survivor was in bad condition in the hospital.

Ram Kumar K.C., who owns a tire shop near the crash site, told AFP that the jet caught fire after striking the ground.

 

“We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again,” the man, who is 48, explained.

Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority told AFP that the flight was for technical or maintenance purposes.

 

The Nepalese military published images of the aftermath, which showed the plane’s fuselage torn apart and burned to a husk.

 

Around a dozen soldiers in camouflage stood on top of the debris, with the surrounding ground doused in fire retardant.

 

Dozens of bereaved relatives gathered outside a neighboring hospital after the bodies were taken from the disaster site.

 

“I am heartbroken,” Rajan Acharya, the brother of a safety officer on the flight, told AFP. “He was my brother, but even more than that, we were best friends.”