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.



Military Intelligence Officer Reportedly Injured in Moscow Car Bomb Attack

A group of Rosgvardia (National Guard) servicemen and people with umbrellas walk under the rain through Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A group of Rosgvardia (National Guard) servicemen and people with umbrellas walk under the rain through Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
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Military Intelligence Officer Reportedly Injured in Moscow Car Bomb Attack

A group of Rosgvardia (National Guard) servicemen and people with umbrellas walk under the rain through Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A group of Rosgvardia (National Guard) servicemen and people with umbrellas walk under the rain through Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A car bomb injured an officer from Russia's military intelligence agency in northern Moscow on Wednesday, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
Russia's interior ministry said that two people were injured in a blast caused by the detonation of an unidentified device, adding a criminal case had been opened.
The explosion ripped through a Toyota Land Cruiser shortly after the officer and an unidentified woman got into the vehicle, according to Russian media which showed footage of the explosion.
Kommersant, one of Russia's leading newspapers, said that the injured man served in the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, widely referred to as GRU.
Baza, which has sources in Russia's security services, also said the injured man was a GRU officer.
State news agency TASS said that an officer and his wife had been injured in the blast. The man's feet were blown off, according to TASS. Five other cars were damaged in the blast, the agency said.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.