Nepal plane crash: 18 killed as Sourya Airlines plane veers off runway during takeoff
The incident reportedly occurred after the Pokhara-bound flight suffered a runway excursion during takeoff.
Around 50 people are believed to be dead in the plane crash on the runway of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu on Monday, said the Nepalese Army.
The aircraft of the US-Bangla Airlines crash-landed and caught fire as it careened off the runway during landing before crashing onto a football ground near the airport.
TIA General Manager Raj Kumar Chhetri, too, said that over 50 people might be dead in the crash.
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“Thirty-one people died at the spot and nine died at two hospitals in Kathmandu,” police spokesman Manoj Neupane told AFP, adding another 23 were injured.
The BS211 aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, was carrying 67 passengers and four crew members to Kathmandu from Dhaka, Bangladesh. The aircraft took off from Dhaka and landed at the airport at 2:20 pm (local time).
Media reports indicate that around 17-30 passengers were taken to the hospital for treatment, some of whom were brought dead on arrival.
The injured are being treated at the Kathmandu Medical College, Teaching Hospital in Sinamangal.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the football ground where the plane crashed.
“The plane shot off the runway while it was about to crash into the hanger and immediately caught fire,” an airport official was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.
It is not clear what led to the crash but officials reportedly suspect technical glitch as the cause of the incident.
The aircraft took off from Dhaka and landed at the airport at 2:20 pm (local time). All the flights to and from TIA have been halted after the crash.
At the time of writing, personnel from the Nepalese Army and other rescue staff had doused the flames and were trying to save those feared trapped.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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