16 Dec 2010

Small plane crashes at foot of Himalayas

3:37 pm on 16 December 2010

A small plane with 22 people on board has crashed in the foothills of the Himalayas in eastern Nepal.

Officials say there is little hope of finding any survivors.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, lost contact with flight controllers just after taking off from the mountainous Lamidanda airstrip on Wednesdaty, Reuters reports.

It was heading for the capital Kathmandu.