Plane crashes in Nepal with 15 on board: home ministry

A Nepalese passenger plane heading for the Everest region with 15 people on board crashed in bad weather near capital Kathmandu early on Tuesday, the home ministry said.

The small Agni Air plane was on its way to Lukla, a popular trekking spot in the Everest region of eastern Nepal, when it crashed about 15 miles (24 kilometres) south of Kathmandu, ministry spokesman Jayamukunda Khanal told AFP.

"The security forces have dispatched rescue teams, but the area is very remote and they have not yet reached the crash site," he said.

Heavy rain was also expected to hamper the rescue effort, with army helicopters unable to fly to the site due to poor visibility.

Local television quoted villagers as saying the plane had crashed in Makwanpur, a district southwest of Kathmandu, and had broken up on impact. The cause was not immediately clear.

Thousands of travellers fly into Lukla, 140 kilometres (90 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, every year to access the stunning Himalayan range that forms Nepal's northern border with Chinese-controlled Tibet.

The 550-metre-long (1,800 feet) sloping airstrip at Lukla perched on a hillside 2,757 metres above sea level is considered one of the most difficult landings in the world.

The last major accident was in 2008 when a Twin Otter plane carrying 18 people crashed at Lukla killing everyone on board.

Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for impoverished Nepal and the number of visitors has increased since a civil war between Maoist guerrillas and the state ended in 2006.

Earlier this year, the government announced an ambitious plan to attract a million tourists to the country in 2011 -- around twice the number that visited in 2009.