Last Updated on January 15, 2023 by Bitfinsider

An army spokesperson said on Sunday that at least 16 people were killed when an airplane crashed in western Nepal’s Pokhara, the small Himalayan country’s deadliest disaster in more than 30 years.

“We anticipate recovering further bodies,” Krishna Bhandari told Reuters. “The plane has disintegrated.”

Yeti Airlines’ twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft carried 72 passengers, including two babies, four staff members, and ten foreign nationals, according to airline spokeswoman Sudarshan Bartaula.

“We don’t know what their nations are,” he explained. “We’re trying to figure it out.”

Hundreds of rescue personnel combed the accident scene on the hillside.

According to the Aviation Safety Network database, the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 into a mountainside on approach to Kathmandu was the worst in Nepal since 1992.

According to flight monitoring service FlightRadar24, the plane was 15 years old.

The ATR72 is a popular twin-engine turboprop airliner produced by an Airbus-Leonardo joint venture. According to its website, Yeti Airlines operates six ATR72-500 planes.

Local television showed dense black smoke pouring from the accident scene, with rescue personnel and spectators gathered around the plane’s wreckage.

Air mishaps are prevalent in Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s fourteen tallest mountains, including Everest, since the weather may change quickly and create dangerous conditions.

Following the jet accident, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held an emergency cabinet meeting, according to a government statement.