Wreckage of missing plane found in Himalayas, Nepal’s army says

The wreckage of a missing plane was found in the foothills of Nepal’s Himalayas on Monday, a day after it went missing with 22 people on board.

The plane was found in Sanosware in Mustang district, a Himalayan district northwest of Kathmandu, Nepali Army spokesperson Narayan Silwal said in a tweet.

“Search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site,’’ Silwal tweeted, saying details would follow.

The fate of the 22 people on board the plane remained unknown.

The Tara Airlines plane was flying to Jomsom from Pokhara, a popular tourist hub around 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu.

The plane had three crew members and 19 passengers on board when it lost contact with air traffic control at around 9:55 a.m. (0410 GMT) on Sunday, according to Nepal Police spokesperson Bishnu Kumar KC.

There were four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepali nationals on board.

A member of the rescue team told dpa the search team looking for possible survivors from the crash but was not optimistic about finding any.

The wreckage was found at an altitude of around 4,000 metres, said Narendra Shahi, an international mountain guide who is in the Nepal Army search and rescue team currently at the crash site.

“It’s a heartbreaking scene to look at. I see a very slim chance of finding any survivors,” he told dpa by phone.