2 Americans among 19 dead in Nepal plane crash

KATMANDU?? A plane carrying tourists to view Mount Everest crashed while attempting to land in Nepal on Sunday, killing all 19 people on board, including two U.S. citizens, officials said.

The turboprop plane belonging to Buddha Air was carrying 13 foreign tourists, three Nepalese passengers and three crew members when it crashed in Bisankunarayan village, just a few miles south of the capital, Katmandu.

Rewant Kuwar, an official at Katmandu's international airport rescue office, said that 18 bodies were pulled out of the plane's wreckage, and that another victim died later after being rushed to a hospital.

Tourism Secretary Ganeshraj Joshi said that among the foreigners who died in the crash, two were U.S. citizens, 10 were Indian nationals and the other was Japanese.

Andy Lane, a U.S. State Department press officer, told NBC News that it was aware of the incident and was working with Nepal's government to get more information.

He said the State Department could not confirm the reports that two Americans were on board and died in the crash.

An eyewitness, Haribol Poudel, told Avenues Television that the plane had hit the roof of a house in the village and disintegrated into several pieces. No casualties were reported on the ground.

Poudel said it was foggy, and that visibility was very low in the mountainous area.

World's highest peaks
The Beechcraft 1900D plane ? manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft, now known as Hawker Beechcraft ? had taken the passengers to view Mount Everest and other high peaks and was returning to Katmandu.

The "mountain flight" takes tourists over the Everest region, and passengers can view some of the world's highest peaks from the airplane windows.

The last plane crash in Nepal was in December last year, when a Twin Otter aircraft hit the Himalayan foothills of remote east Nepal, killing all 22 people onboard.

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Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountain peaks, including Mount Everest.

Tens of thousands of hikers and foreign tourists go to Mount Everest and other trekking routes to see the lofty Himalayan peaks every year.

Those who cannot hike the rugged hilly trails to the mountains use mountain flights operated by different airlines to see the Himalayas.

Tourism, a key source of earning for impoverished Nepal, accounts for nearly four percent of the gross domestic product and employs tens of thousands of people, among the poorest in the world.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press, NBC News and Reuters.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44657751/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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