Asia-Pacific

Nepal plane crash leaves ‘no survivors’ as wreckage found

Plane carrying 23 people lost contact while flying in poor visibility over mountains

A family member cries as he waits at the airport after a Twin Otter plane, operated by private Tara Air, crashed in bad weather in Pokhara, Nepal on Wednesday. Photograph: Krishna Mani Baral/Reuters
Wed Feb 24 2016 - 10:20

A small plane crashed during bad weather in Nepal on Wednesday, killing all 23 people on board, a police official said.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by private Tara Air, was on a flight from Pokhara, 125 km west of the capital, Kathmandu, to Jomsom when it lost contact with the control tower.

“It has broken into pieces” police officer Bishwaraj Khadka told Reuters from Myagdi, the town nearest the crash site.

File photograph of a twin aircraft from the Tara Airlines landing at Jomsom Airport in Nepal, with Mount Nilgiri visible in the background. Photograph: EPA

“There are no survivors.”

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A Chinese national and a Kuwaiti citizen were among the dead.

Officials said thick fog had enveloped the Mustang area where Jomsom is located.

Mustang is a popular hiking area on the Mount Annapurna trekking circuit.

A similar aircraft crashed in west Nepal in 2014, killing 18 people.

Reuters