Fourteen bodies have been recovered from the crash site of a plane that went down in a remote region of Nepal.
The wreckage of the plane carrying 22 people was found on Monday scattered on a mountainside after disappearing during a short flight.
“The search for others is continuing,” said Tek Raj Sitaula, a spokesman for the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal‘s capital Kathmandu.
The Tara Air turboprop Twin Otter was on a 20-minute flight when it lost contact with the airport tower while flying in an area of deep river gorges and mountaintops just before its scheduled landing.
The army said the plane crashed in Sanosware in Mustang district close to the mountain town of Jomsom, where it was heading after taking off from the resort town of Pokhara,125 miles west of Kathmandu.
An aerial photo of the crash site posted on Twitter by an army spokesman showed parts of the aircraft scattered around the mountainside.
The search for the plane had been suspended due to bad weather and darkness on Sunday night, but resumed on Monday.
Nepal: Plane goes missing with 22 people on board, officials say
COVID-19: Hospitals run out of beds, soldiers take over as undertakers – Nepal battles second wave of pandemic
COVID-19: Is India’s coronavirus crisis spilling into neighbouring countries?
According to tracking data from flightradar24.com, the 43-year-old aircraft took off from Pokhara at 9.55am local time and transmitted its last signal at 10.07am at an altitude of 12,825 feet (3,900 meters).
Four Indians and two Germans were on the plane, while the three crew members and other passengers were Nepali nationals.
The plane’s destination is popular with foreign hikers who trek the mountain trails, and also with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.
The Twin Otter, a rugged plane originally built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer De Havilland, has been in service in Nepal for about 50 years.
During this time, it has been involved in around 21 accidents, according to aviationnepal.com.
The plane, with its top-mounted wing and fixed landing gear, is prized for its durability and its ability to take off and land on short runways.
Production of the planes originally ended in the 1980s, but another Canadian company, Viking Air, brought the model back into production in 2010.
