Yemen Monitor/Newsroom
A Yemeni engineer was among 19 people killed when a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on Wednesday.
Yemeni residents reported that “the plane that crashed in Nepal was carrying a group of engineers, including the Yemeni engineer, Arif Rada.”
Residents added that “the plane that crashed belonged to the company where the Yemeni engineer Rada works in the Republic of Nepal.”
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement that only one person survived the crash of the Saurya Airlines plane.
Police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP that “the pilot was rescued and is undergoing treatment.”
The Kathmandu Post reported, citing an airport official, that a plane crashed during takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning carrying 19 people.
The newspaper stated that the Saurya Airlines plane crashed around 11:00 AM (05:15 GMT).
The Khabarhub news website reported that a fire broke out in the plane and “thick plumes of smoke rose from it.”
The flight was en-route to Pokhara, a popular tourist destination in the Himalayan nation.
Nepal’s aviation sector has seen a boom in recent years, transporting goods, people, and foreign climbers between hard-to-reach areas.
The European Union has banned all Nepalese airlines from flying in its airspace due to safety concerns.
