Plane Crashes in Nepal, 18 Passengers Dead and Pilot Injured

Rescuers and army personnel stand at the site after a Saurya Airlines' plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Prabin RANABHAT / AFP)
Rescuers and army personnel stand at the site after a Saurya Airlines' plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Prabin RANABHAT / AFP)
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Plane Crashes in Nepal, 18 Passengers Dead and Pilot Injured

Rescuers and army personnel stand at the site after a Saurya Airlines' plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Prabin RANABHAT / AFP)
Rescuers and army personnel stand at the site after a Saurya Airlines' plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Prabin RANABHAT / AFP)

A small domestic plane slipped off the runway and crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from the airport serving Nepal's capital, killing the 18 passengers and injuring the pilot.

Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out 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.

The Saurya Airlines plane was heading from Kathmandu to the resort town of Pokhara.

Local media images showed smoke rising and plane wreckage scattered all over a ditch. A fire has been brought under control.

Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew worked.

It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however.

Saurya operates domestic flights in Nepal with two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, both around 20 years old, according to Flight Radar 24.

Nepal has been criticized for its poor air safety record.



Germany Bans Group Accused of Iran Links and Hezbollah Support, Carries Out Raids 

24 July 2024, Hamburg: Police officers stand in front of the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali Mosque (Blue Mosque) on the Outer Alster during a raid. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Hamburg: Police officers stand in front of the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali Mosque (Blue Mosque) on the Outer Alster during a raid. (dpa)
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Germany Bans Group Accused of Iran Links and Hezbollah Support, Carries Out Raids 

24 July 2024, Hamburg: Police officers stand in front of the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali Mosque (Blue Mosque) on the Outer Alster during a raid. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Hamburg: Police officers stand in front of the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali Mosque (Blue Mosque) on the Outer Alster during a raid. (dpa)

The German government on Wednesday banned a Hamburg-based organization accused of promoting the Iranian leadership's ideology and supporting Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group, as police raided 53 properties around the country.

The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and its various suborganizations elsewhere in Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said material gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”

The IZH promotes an “extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” while it and its sub-organizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” Faeser said in a statement.

Her ministry alleged that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’” and seeks to export the Iranian revolution to Germany.

The group, which runs a mosque in Hamburg, has long been under observation by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. The IZH said last fall that it “condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”

The Interior Ministry said that because of the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be closed. The IZH's assets are also being confiscated.