Nepalese plane crash: 18 dead, pilot only survives

After local state media reported on Wednesday that a plane with 19 people on board crashed on takeoff in Nepal, police revealed more details.

A plane crash in Kathmandu on Wednesday killed 18 of the 19 people on board, police in the Nepalese capital told Agence France-Presse, leaving the pilot the sole survivor.

Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said that 18 bodies had been found, including one foreigner, adding that they were in the process of transferring them to the morgue.

"The pilot was rescued and is undergoing treatment," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the Sauria Airlines flight was carrying two crew members and 17 company employees on a test flight.

The Sauria Airlines website says it only operates Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft.

The plane crashed at around 11:15 a.m. (05:30 GMT), the military said in a statement, adding that the military's rapid response team was helping with the rescue effort.

The flight was en route to Pokhara, a major tourist destination in the Himalayan country.

Photos of the incident released by the Nepalese military showed the plane's fuselage split and burned, with about a dozen soldiers standing over the wreckage as fire-fighting material covered the area.

The Khabarhab news website reported that the plane caught fire after it veered off course on the runway.