An aircraft belonging to a private airline company with 19 people on board crashed during takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.

At least 19 people, including aircrew, were aboard the Pokhara-bound Saurya Airlines plane which met with the accident at around 11 am, sources said.

The pilot of the aircraft has been taken to a hospital, a security official deployed at the airport told PTI without giving further details.

A fire that broke out from the aircraft has been put off, he added. Police and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations at the accident site. Details about the condition of the passengers were not known.