Plane with 19 on board crashes in Nepalese capital

Kathmandu: A plane carrying trekkers into the Everest region crashed Friday morning in Nepal's capital, and all 19 people on board are believed dead, authorities said.

Thirteen people on board were foreigners, while three passengers and the three crew members were from Nepal, said Katmandu airport chief Narayan Bastakoti. He said all the 19 were believed to have been killed when the plane crashed.

The twin-engine prop plane belonging to the domestic Sita Air crashed onto open ground near the Manohara River on the southwest edge of Katmandu, just minutes after takeoff. Weather conditions were clear.

Firefighters brought the fire in the wreckage under control and police rescuers were trying to pull out the bodies, Bastakoti said.

The plane was heading for Lukla, the gateway to Mount Everest. Thousands of Westerners head to the region around the world's highest peak yearly for trekking trips. Autumn is considered the best time to trek the foothills of the Himalayan peaks.

The crash follows an avalanche on another Nepal peak Sunday that killed seven foreign climbers and a Nepali guide.