Nepal plane crash kills all 18 on board

A small plane carrying foreign tourists, including one Briton, crashed into a mountainside in the Himalayas yesterday killing all 18 people on board.

The crash happened in bad weather shortly before arrival at the Nepalese resort of Pokhara, 80 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu. Thirteen Germans, one American and three crew members also died. The dead Briton was named as David James Black.

The twin engine Otter aircraft, operated by Shangri-la Air, disappeared from radar at about 10am local time (05.15 BST). It had taken off from the trekking base of Jomsom, about 50 miles to the north. The plane struck a mountain in dense cloud at an altitude of 4,600 feet, the airline said. Pokhara is popular with tourists for its views of some of the world's highest mountains.

"It suddenly lost contact and crashed near Kristi Nachne Chour [village], five kilometres (3 miles) south-west of Pokhara airport," Nepal's Civil Aviation Office said in a statement.

"The plane broke into several pieces and the bodies were scattered over a small area with many trees and bushes," an official at Pokhara airport, Gopal Chandra Thapa, said. All the crash victims have now been recovered and moved to Kathmandu.

In a separate incident a bus plunged 60 feet into a river swollen by monsoon rains on the Kathmandu-Pokhara road. At least 45 people were on board. All are presumed dead. The driver lost control when he tried to overtake on a bend.

In a country of difficult terrain and poor roads, flying is a popular means of getting about Nepal, particularly for foreign visitors. But concerns over safety have dealt a severe blow to the tourist industry. Ten people are still missing after a helicopter disappeared in May and four were killed when another Twin Otter crashed in June.

Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations and relies on heavily on tourism. Numbers are down by 40 per cent this year, amid fears over intensified fighting between Maoist insurgents and the army.