UPDATE 1 -- Military plane crashes in western Nepal, killing 6

[News_Editor]

UPDATE 1 -- Military plane crashes in western Nepal, killing 6

2011-10-19 00:11:03 GMT+7 (ICT)

DHORPATAN, NEPAL (BNO NEWS) -- A military plane carrying six people, including a patient, crashed in the western region of Nepal on early Tuesday evening, officials said. There were no survivors.

The accident happened just after 7 p.m. local time when the Britten-Norman Islander aircraft lost contact with air traffic control as it was flying near the village of Dhorpatan in Baglung District, which is located in the country's Dhawalagiri zone.

Nepali Army officials said the aircraft had taken off from the municipality of Nepalgunj in the Banke district where it picked up a patient for a transport to Kathmandu, the country's capital. A total of six people were on board, including a doctor, the patient, and two pilots who were identified as Bikash Singh Rathod and Diwakar Karki.

Residents in Dhorpatan reported hearing a loud explosion shortly after 7 p.m. local time and noticed a hill in the area was on fire. Rescue workers later reached the crash site and found no survivors.

It was not immediately known what may have caused the accident.

On September 25, eighteen people were killed when a small Buddha Air passenger plane carrying tourists on a sightseeing trip crashed into a residential building in the village of Bisankhunarayan in Kathmandu Valley, located several kilometers (miles) from the capital of Kathmandu. There were no survivors.

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