There were 15 passengers and three crew in the plane at the time of the crash. One of the passengers was reported to be a foreigner. All the bodies have been taken to Kathmandu.

Nepalese armymen on Monday morning recovered the bodies of 18 people. One was of an infant. Nine were charred beyond recognition. Rescuers had to dig through blanket of snow at the site of the accident in Arghakhanchi district. The plane had burst into flames.

It is reported that the State-owned plane was caught in heavy rain before it crashed. Rescue work was hampered on Sunday due to the torrential rain.

Nepal airlines lack air safety standards

The Government has ordered an inquiry into the accident.

The Nepal Airlines' twin Otter propeller plane had lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the wellknown tourist town of Pokhara after stopover on Sunday afternoon for the town of Jumla, 353 km west of Kathmandu. It was flying from Kathmandu to Jumla.

Nepal has had a series of air accidents in the past. The Nepal Airlines' safety level has been found to be far below international standards, with poor training of pilots and inadequate maintenance of aircraft. The European Union had recently banned the carrier from flying into its countries.

The aircraft was 43 years old and built by a Canadian firm.