19 killed in crash of Nepal tourist plane

News at Gatwick 26/09/2011

British passenger tries to open door while in-flight : September 2011 : Tourism in Kenya at serious risk of collapse following secon

A small plane carrying tourists has crashed near Kathmandu.

A small plane taking tourists to see Mount Everest has crashed, leaving no survivors from the 19 people aboard, according to officials. The Buddha Air flight had 16 tourists on board, as well as three crew, when it went down while returning from an aerial tour of mountains in the region, including the world’s tallest peak.

Rescuers pulled one survivor from the wreckage. He was transported to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

Ganeshraj Joshi, Nepal’s Tourism Secretary, said the plane was carrying 10 Indians, a Japanese citizen, two Americans and six people from Nepal, including the crew of three. The control tower lost contact with the Beechcraft 1900D, which was privately-operated, at 7.31 local time.

Investigators are still looking into what caused the plane to come down. Reports on local TV stations carried eyewitness claims that flames had been seen coming from the craft immediately before it came down in fog. The plane crashed in Godavari, which is several kilometres outside the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

One eyewitness described seeing the plane hit the top of a house in the village of Bisankunarayan and then breaking up. A police spokesman quoted by Reuters said ground search teams had recovered the bodies but bad weather was preventing helicopters from landing.

The mountainous country of Nepal has seen many crashes involving small aircraft. A small passenger plane crashed outside the capital in December, killing all 22 people aboard.

British passenger tries to open door while in-flight : September 2011 : Tourism in Kenya at serious risk of collapse following secon

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