New Delhi: 72 people fiercely dead in an Yeti Airlines plane crash on Sunday morning minutes before landing near steep gorge at Pokhara new airport in Nepal . According to the media quotes at least 68 people and four crew members were confirmed dead Sunday after a plane with 72 on board crashed.

At least 63 killed as #YetiAirlines flight crashes in #Nepal 's Pokhara@SwetaSinghIIS

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— DD News (@DDNewslive) January 15, 2023

The ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft plummeted into a steep gorge, smashed into pieces and burst into flames in the central city of Pokhara. The plane operated by Yeti Airlines was en route from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. According to Yeti airline sources foreigners were on board, including five Indians, four Russians and two South Koreans, with one passenger each from Argentina, Australia, France and Ireland. The rest were Nepalise.

Thirty-one (bodies) have been taken to hospitals; police official AK Chhetri, adding that 36 other bodies were found in the gorge where the aircraft crashed. Rescue operations have been difficult because of a raging fire at the wreckage. Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda called an emergency cabinet meeting soon after the crash, and the Nepal government has formed a five-member commission of inquiry to probe the incident.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the aircraft took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am. The plane was close to landing at the Pokhara airport, when it crashed into a river gorge on the bank of the Seti River. The crash happened around 20 minutes after the take-off, suggesting the aircraft might have been on the descent. The flight time between the two cities is 25 minutes.