Nepal observes a day of mourning after their worst air disaster in decades

Nepalis are observing a day of mourning for victims of the country's worst air disaster for some three decades.

At least 68 people died when a flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara crashed and caught fire yesterday morning.

Mobile phone footage showed the Yeti Airlines flight rolling sharply as it approached the airport.

BBC reports it is unclear what caused the crash, but Nepal has a tragic history of fatal airline accidents.

A search and rescue operation that involved hundreds of Nepalese soldiers was suspended overnight due to darkness, but it resume this morning.

Earlier, local TV reports showed rescuers scrambling around charred sections of the aircraft which hit the ground in the gorge of the Seti River, just over a kilometre from the airport.

Most of the 72 passengers and crew died, but there were unconfirmed reports that several people had survived, although critically injured.

The Nepalese Government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the disaster.

Source: BBC News