At least 50 people are feared dead after a Bangladeshi plane with 67 passengers and four crew on board crashed near Kathmandu airport on Monday.
According to The Telegraph, an army spokesperson told Reuters that at least 50 were dead in the accident near Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu of Nepal.
Hindustan Times, NDTV and some other global media also published reports citing Reuters confirming the death toll.
However, other estimates of the death toll varied as emergency workers continued their operation at the burning wreckage.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the football pitch where the plane crashed, to the east of the runway at Nepal's only international airport, in the capital Kathmandu.
Earlier, Nepal's Tourism Ministry Joint Secretary Suresh Acharya said 17 injured passengers were rescued and sent to different hospitals for treatment.
Bangladeshi private televisions said 33 people among 71 on board are Nepalese citizens. At least 37 people were Bangladeshis.
The airport authority cancelled all flights following the accident.
Sources said the aircraft caught fire after it skidded off the runway during landing and crashed onto a football ground near TIA.
The aircraft with call sign S2-AGU took off from Dhaka at 12.51pm (Bangladesh time) and landed at TIA at 2:20 pm.
Reuters said rescue workers recovered badly burnt bodies from the wreckage of the aircraft.
A witness said he could see bodies covered in cloth laid out near the tarmac of the airport.
According to a bdnews24.com report, US-Bangla Airlines spokesman Kamrul Islam said they were informed that a flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu has had an accident.
“We will release more details as we receive them,” he said.
Live footage posted on Facebook showed the towering columns of smoke rising behind the runway, where another plane stood waiting on the tarmac.
NDTV said mountainous Nepal is notorious for air accidents. Small aircraft often run into trouble at provincial airstrips.
A Thai Airways flight from Bangkok crashed while trying to land in Kathmandu in 1992 killing all on board.
US-Bangla Airlines is a unit of the US-Bangla Group, a US Bangladeshi joint venture company.
The Bangladeshi carrier launched operations in July 2014 and operates Bombardier Inc and Boeing aircraft.
