A plane crashed in Nepal with 72 people on board. The accident occurred near the popular tourist city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This was announced by an airport employee in that city. Aviation authorities report that 40 bodies have been recovered so far.

There are about 300 police and military personnel at the wreck site. “We expect more bodies to be removed from the plane,” a military spokesman told Reuters news agency. He said the plane crashed.

Unverified photos and videos of burning wreckage, most likely the crashed plane, are circulating on social media. It is not yet clear how the plane crashed. Another unverified video, purportedly of the crash, shows the plane flying low over the city and suddenly turning over.

The Yeti Airlines plane was on its way from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara with 68 passengers and four crew members on board. The city is the tourism center of Nepal. Many treks through the Himalayas start from there.

At least ten of the passengers are foreigners. According to the authorities, five passengers were from India, four from Russia and two from South Korea. The other foreigners are Australian, Irish, French and Argentine.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahl is holding emergency talks with his government. He called on aid workers and residents of the area to help in the rescue operation.

Aircraft accidents are more common in Nepal, which is located in the Himalayas between India and China. Last year, 22 people died in a smaller plane crash, and in 2018, 49 people died in a plane crash in Kathmandu. In 1992 a major disaster occurred when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu. All 167 people on board were killed.

Eight of the fourteen highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, are (partly) in Nepal and the weather can change suddenly in the region, but that doesn’t seem to be the reason at the moment. A spokesperson for the Nepal Aviation Authority said it was clear at the time of the disaster.