Kathmandu   -   A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

The Saurya Airlines flight was carrying two crew and 17 of the company’s staff members, Nepali police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said.

“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he said. “Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.” The Civil Aviation Authority said the dead foreigner was a Yemeni citizen. A news release from the airport said the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after take-off.

The survivor was in serious condition in hospital, it said. Ram Kumar K.C., who runs a tyre store near the crash site, told AFP the plane caught fire after hitting the ground. “We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again,” the 48-year-old said.