Kathmandu. Seven passengers including a crew member were injured in the crash of a Buddha Air plane at Bhadrapur Airport at 9.10 pm on Friday.

According to Rajan Limbu, Superintendant of Police (SP) at the District Police Office, Jhapa, the Buddha Air’s ATR 72 aircraft with call sign 901 from Kathmandu crashed 300 meters east of the runway while landing at Bhadrapur Airport.

There were 51 passengers on board, four crew members and one engineer. Co-pilot Sushanta Shrestha, 24, of Lalitpur-4 and six others were injured in the accident.

The injured have been identified as Sabin Jogi, 40, of Bhadrapur-10, Preshika Adhikari, 20, of Birtamode – 7, Sumitra Jogi, 42, of Birtamode – 1, Kamal Prasad Katuwal, 28, of Damak-1, Muna Ghatani, 40, of Kathmandu-16 and Priya Ghatani, 16, of Kathmandu-16.

The injured were immediately taken to Omsai Pathivara Hospital in Bhadrapur. Co-pilot Sushanta Shrestha, 24, who sustained head injuries on his face and head injuries, is receiving treatment at the hospital while six others injured in the crash have been discharged after treatment, SP Limbu said.

The aircraft had taken off from Kathmandu at 8.23 pm on Friday and overrun while landing at Bhadrapur airport at 9.10 pm.

A team of 70 police personnel has been mobilized under the command of Superintendent of Police Rajan Limbu from the District Police Office, Jhapa, for the rescue operation. The police pulled out all the passengers safely from the plane and took the injured to the hospital.