At least 68 people were killed when a domestic flight of Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, the worst air crash in three decades in the small Himalayan nation.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said a man travelling on an Irish passport was among the passengers on the plane, which was carrying a total of 72 people.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said that it is "aware of reports of the involvement of an Irish citizen in an airplane crash in Nepal, and stands ready to provide consular assistance if requested".
It is understood that passengers onboard include five Indian nationals, four Russians, two South Korean, one Australian, one French and one Argentinian national.
Officials have called off the search operations for the day, saying they will resume tomorrow.
The aviation authority has published a full list of all the passengers on board the flight, but it is not yet clear if all families have been informed and if there are any survivors.
Footage captured by an eyewitness shows the moments before a Yeti Airlines flight carrying 72 people crashed in Nepal | More: https://t.co/l1WWaa7hZK pic.twitter.com/Ov5lihknFJ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 15, 2023
Hundreds of rescue workers searched the hillside site where the plane, flying from the capital Kathmandu, went down. It is the country's worst air crash in nearly five years.
AFP news agency reported that one local official said that some survivors had been taken to hospital. However, this has not been confirmed by either Yeti Airlines or others.
The weather had been clear and there was no immediate indication of what caused the crash.
The plane made contact with Pokhara airport from Seti Gorge at 10.50am (05.05am Irish time), the aviation authority said in a statement. "Then it crashed."
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
The government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the crash and it is expected to report within 45 days, the finance minister Bishnu Paudel told reporters.
There were 72 people on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti, including two infants and four crew members, said a spokesperson for the airline.
The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.
On its website, Yeti describes itself as a leading domestic carrier. Its fleet consists of six ATR 72-500s, including the one that crashed. It also owns Tara Air, and the two together offer the "widest network" in Nepal, the company says.
Yeti said it had cancelled all its regular flights for tomorrow in "mourning for the passengers who lost their lives".
The ATR72 of European planemaker ATR is a widely used twin engine turbo prop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo.
"ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer," ATR said in a statement.
Airbus and Leonardo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The crash is Nepal's deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
Air accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
