At least 68 people have died after a Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed in Pokhara in central Nepal, in the small Himalayan country's worst aviation disaster in three decades.
Key points:
- It is Nepal's worst air crash since 167 people were killed in a 1992 accident
- An Australian was among the 72 passengers onboard
- Nepal's prime minister has called an emergency cabinet meeting
Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside where the flight from Kathmandu went down on Sunday, a Nepalese aviation official said.
Officials late in the evening called off the search operations for the day, saying they will resume on Monday.
Among the 72 passengers onboard were several foreign nationals, including five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one Australian.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told the ABC it was aware of reports an Australian was on board and was urgently seeking to confirm the welfare of that passenger.
The crash is Nepal's deadliest since 1992, the Aviation Safety Network database showed, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into a hillside upon approach to Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board.
Police official Ajay KC said rescue workers were having difficulty reaching the site in a gorge between two hills near the tourist town's airport.
"We expect to recover more bodies," army spokesperson Krishna Bhandari told Reuters.
"The plane has broken into pieces."
Rescue teams work to retrieve bodies from the wreckage at the crash site in Pokhara. (Reuters: Krishna Mani Baral)
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage.
The plane made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50 am, the aviation authority said in a statement.
"Half of the plane is on the hillside," said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he reached the site minutes after the plane went down.
"The other half has fallen into the gorge of the Seti river."
Bishnu Tiwari, who rushed to the crash site to help search for bodies, said the rescue efforts were hampered by thick smoke and a raging fire.
"The flames were so hot that we couldn't go near the wreckage," the local resident said.
"I heard a man crying for help, but because of the flames and smoke we couldn't help him."
Khum Bahadur Chhetri said he watched from the roof of his house as the flight approached.
"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly its nose dived and it went into the gorge," Mr Chhetri told Reuters, adding that local residents took two passengers to a hospital.
Videos shared on social media show a plane flying low over a populated area before appearing to roll sharply out of frame.
The government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the crash and it is expected to report within 45 days, the finance minister, Bishnu Paudel, told reporters.
At least 350 deaths since 2000
The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
The ATR72 is a widely used plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.
Yeti said it had cancelled all its regular flights for Monday in "mourning for the passengers who lost their lives".
At least 350 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, where the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
The European Union has banned Nepali airlines from its airspace since 2013, citing safety concerns.
The journey to Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city tucked under the picturesque Annapurna mountain range, from the capital Kathmandu is one of the Himalayan country's most popular tourist routes, with many preferring a short flight instead of a six-hour-long drive through hilly roads.
Pokhara Airport spokesman Anup Joshi said the aircraft crashed as it approached the airport, adding that the "plane cruised at 12,500 feet and was on a normal descent".
The weather on Sunday was clear.
ABC/wires
Story first published on ABC News Australia