A small plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Wednesday, killing 18 people on board, officials said.

       The pilot of the Saurya Airlines flight was the only survivor and was seriously injured, the authorities said. The plane took off at 11:11 a.m. from Tribhuvan International Airport and was headed toward Pokhara, Nepal’s second biggest city and a Himalayan tourist destination, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.

       The plane then veered to the right before crashing on the east side of the runway and catching fire, the statement said. Officials said that the cause was not immediately clear and that there would be an investigation.

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