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A 72-seater aircraft crashed on the runway at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal on Sunday morning, killing at least 30 passengers and injuring several others, Nepal's news portal Lokantar has reported.
The flight was carrying 68 passengers and 4 crew members. Rescue work is ongoing.
The airline's spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP the plane crashed between the old and new Pokhara airports in central Nepal.
The wreckage was on fire and rescue workers were trying to put out the blaze, said local official Gurudutta Dhakal.
"Responders have already reached there and are trying to douse the fire. All agencies are now focused on first dousing the fire and rescuing the passengers," Dhakal said.
Plagued by poor safety
Nepal's air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers. But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance.
The Himalayan country also has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
Aircraft operators say Nepal lacks infrastructure for accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with challenging mountainous terrain where deadly crashes have taken place in the past. The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air – 16 Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans – died when it crashed. Authorities subsequently tightened regulations, including mandating that planes would only be cleared to fly if there was a favorable weather forecast throughout the route.
In March 2018, a U.S.-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu's international airport, killing 51 people. That accident was Nepal's deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.
(CGTN）
