Bangladesh plane carrying 71 people crashes in Kathmandu

A Bangladesh aircraft carrying 67 passengers and four crew members crashed at Kathmandu airport in Nepal on Monday.

According to airport officials, the plane crash landed at the airport, skid off the runway and burst into flames. The plane carried a total of 71 people, of which 17 people were injured, who were rushed to the hospital. Many fatalities are also expected, as the plane erupted into flames after crashing, international media reported.

Airport spokesman Birendra Prasad Shrestha said, “We are trying to bring the fire under control. Details are awaited.” Shrestha further said that the airport had been shut down and all other flights diverted as the  Rescue and emergency teams were concentrating on evacuating the passengers.

The plane, US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, was landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on a flight from Dhaka when it crashed at 2:15 p.m.

Mountainous Nepal is notorious for air accidents. Small aircrafts often run into trouble at provincial airstrips.

Clouds of smoke are seen rising from the scene of a passenger plane crash at Kathmandu airport in Nepal. The plane appeared to have caught fire just before it landed and skidded to a stop in a field beside the runway, an airport official said. https://t.co/Zh6Rp2YTym pic.twitter.com/m5GP86ABts

— ABC News (@ABC) March 12, 2018

Here are some #photos of the US-Bangla Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft #crash sitehttps://t.co/4bJvvM3jtH#US_Banglacrash #TIA #Nepal #KathmanduPost pic.twitter.com/MPauUp8ghP

— The Kathmandu Post (@kathmandupost) March 12, 2018