Plane crash kills 14 in Nepal
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A aircraft owned by Agni Air with over a dozen people on board crashed in Makawanpur in central Nepal early Tuesday morning.
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The file photo taken on Dec. 3, 2009 shows a plane of Agni air parking at the Lukla airport, east of Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. A small plane of Agni Air has crashed in Makwanpur district, southwest of Kathmandu, in central Nepal early Tuesday morning, killing 15 people, local media reported. The exact cause of the accident is not known, but officials suspect bad weather could have led to the crash. [Bimal Gutam/Xinhua] |
![The file photo taken on Dec. 3, 2009 shows a plane of Agni air parking at the Lukla airport, east of Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. A small plane of Agni Air has crashed in Makwanpur district, southwest of Kathmandu, in central Nepal early Tuesday morning, killing 15 people, local media reported. The exact cause of the accident is not known, but officials suspect bad weather could have led to the crash. [Bimal Gutam/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100824/000cf1bdd03f0ddda81725.jpg "The file photo taken on Dec. 3, 2009 shows a plane of Agni air parking at the Lukla airport, east of Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. A small plane of Agni Air has crashed in Makwanpur district, southwest of Kathmandu, in central Nepal early Tuesday morning, killing 15 people, local media reported. The exact cause of the accident is not known, but officials suspect bad weather could have led to the crash. [Bimal Gutam/Xinhua]")
A total of 14 persons -- six foreigners, five Nepalese and three crew members -- have been killed in the mishap, Tribhuvan International Airport authorities confirmed.
The deceased crew members have been identified. Four American nationals, one British national and one Japanese national have also been killed, the official of the airport confirmed.
The plane was returning to the capital from Lukla near Mt. Everest (also called Qomolangma) in the morning.
The exact cause of the accident is not known, but officials suspect bad weather that could have led to the crash.
However, some reports said sources have informed that the pilot had contacted the control unit at Tribhuvan International Airport and reported an engine failure before the mishap.
Locals of Makawanpur told Kantipur FM that the plane crashed into a field in Shikharpur village, southwest of Kathmandu.
"The plane remains broken into pieces in the field right next to a school building," Pratap Lama, a local said. "The human bodies also remain in pieces."
He added, "There was no big noise or any fire that we noticed before the crash."
Meanwhile, a Nepal Army team from Phaparbari and a police team from Hetauda have been deployed in the incident site for rescue purposes.
Rescue teams have left for the accident spot from the capital as well.
The weather of Kathmandu valley had worsened in the wee hours of Tuesday, with torrential rains lashing and thick clouds and fogs blanketing the surrounding hills -- clearly affecting the visibility for flights.
