Photos: Plane carrying 72 people crashes in Nepal

People gather near the wreckage of the passenger plane in Pokhara. [Yunish Gurung/AP Photo]

A passenger plane has crashed near Pokhara International Airport in Nepal, killing at least 16 people on board.

There were 72 people on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines when it crashed on Sunday, according to airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.

The passenger plane crashed near Pokhara International Airport. [Yunish Gurung/AP Photo]

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the plane was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara in central Nepal, and urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.

Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside crash site.

Rescuers at the site of the crash in Pokhara. [Yunish Gurung/AFP]

The ATR72 is a widely used twin-engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.

The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. [Yunish Gurung/AFP]

The resort town of Pokhara is 200km (125 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu.

The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members. [Ashish Puri/AP Photo]