Nepal: At least 68 killed in plane crash

By Alastair Wanklyn

At least 68 people are dead after a plane crash in Nepal.

The Yeti Airlines passenger plane came down on Sunday morning as it approached an airport in the city of Pokhara, northern Nepal.

Video on social media showed the propeller plane appeared to approach normally, but then rolled onto one side and hit a hillside covered with houses and vegetation. The wreckage burned.

Local residents tried to approach, and appeared to help one survivor.

The plane was flying a domestic route from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

It was the deadliest crash in Nepal in at least three decades.

Unknown cause of crash

The country regularly suffers aviation accidents, often attributed to low cloud and other hazardous weather. But video from the scene of this disaster appeared to show blue sky and calm conditions.

There was no word on why the ATR-72 aircraft came down.

The Reuters news agency quoted a Yeti Airlines spokesperson as saying there were four crew members aboard and the passengers included 15 foreign nationals.

The Nepalese prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, called an emergency cabinet meeting, Reuters added.