18 Die, Pilot Survives Nepal Plane Crash

At least 18 people have been confirmed dead following the crash of a passenger plane in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The small plane crashed on takeoff with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage, but all 18 others aboard were killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to Pokhara city to repair another aircraft, when the incident occurred.

“Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.

Television visuals showed firefighters trying to put out the blaze and thick black smoke rising into the sky.

They also showed the plane flying a little above the runway and then tilting before it crashed.