Kathmandu (AsiaNews)
- A plane headed to Mount Everest
crashed this morning at 6:15 in the Nepalese
capital, killing 19 people who were
on board. Among the dead are
British, Chinese and Nepalese.
The plane, owned by Sita Air, crashed minutes
after taking off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. According to initial reports,
the pilot tried to land near the river Manahara, but the plane caught fire and crashed.
Local sources said that among the dead
are seven Britons, five Chinese and seven Nepalese,
including three crew. Previously some
Italian tourists were believed to have been on board. But the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied reports:
some Italian tourists were to have taken
the flight, but were delayed and prevented from boarding.
The aircraft was used to take tourists to the bottom of Lukla, the base camp for climbing Mount
Everest. The cause of the
accident is not yet clear, and it has been confirmed
that weather conditions were
good.
In the mountainous region of Nepal
plane crashes frequently occur. Last May, 15 people were killed in a crash landing. Last year in September, 19 people died when they plane carrying them on a sightseeing flight
to Mount Everest crashed.