Plane crashes in Nepal with 19 aboard, several dead

At least 18 people were killed after a plane crashed and caught fire while it was taking off from Nepal's capital of Kathmandu on Wednesday. The pilot is the only survivor of the fatal accident and he is currently receiving treatment in hospital.

Some 19 people were on the Saurya Airlines test flight, including technical staff members of the airline and two crew members. The incident happened at around 11:15 local time, a few minutes after the plane took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport, according to a statement by the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority's search and rescue coordination center.