A helicopter collision near Nepal’s Mount Everest has claimed the lives of six persons.
This morning, shortly after takeoff, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot and five visitors.
Their bodies have now been pulled from the rubble by rescuers.
The five tourists were all citizens of Mexico, and senior captain Chet Bahadur Gurung was the pilot.
The chopper was operated by Manang Air, which takes people to see the country’s highest peaks, including Everest – the tallest mountain in the world.
It went missing shortly after taking off from Surke Airport and was discovered in Likkhu, just northeast of the capital city Kathmandu.
It dropped off the radar at around 10.12am local time (5.12am UK time) around eight minutes after departure.
According to Tribhuvan International Airport manager, Gyanendra Bhul, it was around 12,000ft in the air when communications cut out.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, according to the civil aviation regulators.
Airport official Sagar Kadel said earlier the planned flight route had been changed due to adverse weather conditions.
But Raju Neupane, a spokesperson for Manang Air, said: ‘The helicopter took off … in good weather.
‘The weather was not bad. Now we can’t say what caused the crash. It will have to be investigated.’
Sita Adhikari, a regional official in the district of Solukhumbu, the site of the crash, said: ‘The bodies have broken into pieces.
‘More police have been sent to the location. Only then will we know details.’
The tragic incident is the latest in a series of air disasters to strike the Himalayan nation.
The rugged mountainous region has a history of air crashes, as many airlines fly to small airports in remote hills and near peaks shrouded in clouds and cut off from roads.
Nepal’s worst air crash in 30 years killed 71 people in January this year, when a plane went down near the tourist city of Pokhara.