Only One Survivor After Plane Slips Off Runway

A domestic plane crashed Wednesday while taking off from the airport serving Nepal's capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor, the AP reports. Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have recovered all 18 bodies. The only survivor was the pilot, who was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital for treatment, said a doctor at the hospital who was not authorized to speak to media. The pilot has injuries to the eyes but is not in any danger, the doctor said. Local media images showed smoke rising and plane wreckage scattered all over a ditch. A fire has been brought under control.

The bodies have been taken to the TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy. The airline manifest showed there were two pilots and 17 passengers on board; among them there was only one female. The crew and 16 passengers were Nepali nationals with one identified as foreigner, but no nationality was disclosed. The Saurya Airlines plane was heading from Kathmandu to the resort town of Pokhara. It was not clear how it slipped. It is monsoon season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however.

(More Nepal stories.)