A small plane of Agni Air has crashed in Makwanpur district, southwest of Kathmandu, in central Nepal early Tuesday morning, killing 15 people, local media reported.
Media reports said the Dornier plane was carrying 15 people including the crew members, and was returning to the capital from Lukla near Mt. Everest (also called Qomolangma), Xinhua reported.
The exact cause of the accident is not known, but officials suspect bad weather could have led to the crash.
According to preliminary information, there were 12 passengers and three crew members on the plane.
Locals of Makawanpur told Kantipur FM radio that the plane crashed into a field in Shikharpur village, southwest of Kathmandu.
"The plane remains broken into pieces in the field right next to a school building," Pratap Lama, a local said. "The human bodies also remain in pieces."
He added, "There was no big noise or any fire that we noticed before the crash."
The weather of Kathmandu Valley had worsened in the wee hours of Tuesday, with torrential rains lashing and thick clouds and fogs blanketing the surrounding hills -- clearly affecting the visibility for flights.