Nepal retrieves bodies of plane crash victims

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air between the remote town of Lamidanda and capital Kathmandu, had lost contact shortly after takeoff Wednesday from the mountainous airstrip. Officials said the aircraft probably ploughed into a 9,000-feet-high hill.

All 19 passengers and a crew of three were killed in the crash, the second deadly accident in less than six months.

The passengers were pilgrims returning from a shrine in Lamidanda in Khotang district, 162 kilometres (101 miles) east of Kathmandu, Khotang district administrator Keshav Acharya said.

Tara Air officials said 18 passengers were Bhutanese, one was a Tibetan holding an American passport and three Nepali crew.

Small aircraft flying to remote and dusty airstrips in Nepal are common modes of transport in the country's mountainous regions that lack proper roads and can be reached only on foot.

Fourteen people including six foreigners were killed in an aircrash in August in rainy weather near Kathmandu.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; editing by Paul de Bendern and Sanjeev Miglani)