A passenger plane with 72 people on board has crashed near Pokhara International Airport in the Kaski district of Nepal.
The plane which crashed on Sunday was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, according to the Kathmandu Post, a local news site.
Premnath Thakur, general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, said the aircraft with a call sign 9N-ANC took off from Kathmandu at 10:30am local time.
Videos shared on Twitter showed the last moments before the plane crashed as it tilted turbulently before plunging into the ground.
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Smoke plumes were visible rising from the crash site in pictures and videos uploaded on social media as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
Horrifying last moments of an ATR plane crash from Nepal in Pokhara that was bound for Kathmandu. All 72 people on board are dead. pic.twitter.com/4JZIvnThPQ
— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) January 15, 2023
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#Nepal
72 passengers were on board. Plane crash at Pokhra International Airport. pic.twitter.com/igBoObcCDm— Aishwarya Paliwal (@AishPaliwal) January 15, 2023
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It is not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash.
Following the crash, Pushpa Dahal, Nepal’s prime minister, called for an emergency meeting of the council of ministers.
He directed the home ministry, security personnel and all relevant government agencies to carry out immediate rescue and relief operations.
The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
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