A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing all 18 aboard except the pilot, who was rescued from the wreckage, Nepali police reported.
The Saurya Airlines flight carried two crew members and 17 staff members. Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki stated, “The pilot has been rescued and is being treated.
Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.”
The Civil Aviation Authority identified the deceased foreigner as a Yemeni citizen. A news release from the airport explained the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after take-off. The survivor is in serious condition in the hospital.
Ram Kumar K.C., a local business owner near the crash site, described the scene: “We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again.”
The flight was reportedly conducted for technical or maintenance purposes, as stated by Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Images from Nepal’s military showed the plane’s fuselage split and burnt, with soldiers working amidst the wreckage.
Grieving relatives gathered outside a nearby hospital where the bodies were transported. Rajan Acharya, brother of a safety officer on board, said, “I am heartbroken. He was my brother, but even more than that, we were best friends.”
The plane was en route to Pokhara, Nepal’s busiest air route. Saurya Airlines operates Bombardier CRJ 200 jets.
This crash follows Nepal’s last major commercial flight incident in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed, killing all 72 aboard.
Get instant and latest news updates via Our WhatsApp Community or Google News online channel.