A small plane headed for the Everest region crashed in bad weather near the Nepalese capital on Tuesday, killing all 14 people on board, including four Americans, a Japanese and a British national. The Agni Air plane was returning to Kathmandu after poor visibility prevented it from landing at Lukla, its intended destination in a popular trekking spot in eastern Nepal, government officials said.
Rescuers at the scene of the crash described it as "horrific", with the badly burned remains of the victims strewn over a field around 15 miles (25 kilometres) south of Kathmandu. The remains were flown by helicopter to Kathmandu airport, where they were met by the US and Japanese ambassadors and by caretaker prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who said he was deeply saddened by the tragedy.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear and Bimlesh Lal Karna, head of rescue operations with the civil aviation authority, said an investigation had been launched. "A committee has been formed and it will report on its findings within 10 days," said Karna, who suggested the weather conditions may have been the reason for the accident.
Witnesses said they saw the plane crash into a field next to a school in heavy rain and break up on impact. "There are small pieces of the plane all over the field and you can see body parts. We are all so shocked," villager Pratap Lama told the Kantipur radio station.
Bishnu Adhikari, managing director of the travel agency that booked the six foreigners on to the flight, said they were all planning to trek to Everest base camp. "The Americans were travelling together and they had a guide with them. The British guy also had a guide, and there was a young Japanese man who was travelling alone," said Adhikari, of Himal Reisen Travel.
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