Nepal, Kathmandu: Nepal tourism minister said, a small plane carrying 23 people that went missing on Today has reportedly crashed in Nepal, killing all passengers on board. The plane was flying in poor visibility over mountainous terrain in Nepal on Today. Airport official Yogendra Kuwar said the plane was on an 18-minute flight, but lost contact after takeoff.

Kuwar said that helicopters had searched the route for more than two hours after the plane was to have landed, but poor weather conditions made it difficult. The foreigners were from China and Kuwait while the remaining were all Nepali nationals, including two children. Pokhara-jomsom has proved to be an accident prone route that involves negotiating through strong wind currents and mountains.

The plane had taken off from Pokhara, a resort town 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, and was heading north to Jomsom, the starting point for trekkers going into mountainous areas. The police chief at Jomsom, Harihari Yogi, said they first had reports from local villagers of hearing a loud explosion near the small village of Rupshe.