Local media: Plane with 72 people on board crashes in Nepal

NEW DELHI

A passenger plane with 72 people on board has crashed near Pokhara International Airport in Nepal, the daily newspaper Kathmandu Post reported Sunday.

The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, the newspaper reported, quoting a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the plane was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara in central Nepal, and urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.

The resort town of Pokhara is 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu.

Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.

Nepal has had a spotty air safety record.

Last year, 22 people died when a plane crashed on a mountainside in Nepal. In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people aboard.