Pained by Nepal air crash: Narendra Modi

"Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families," Modi tweeted.

At least 68 people died when a Yeti Airlines plane, which had 72 passengers onboard, crashed upon landing at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal's Kaski district on Sunday.

The plane had taken off from  Tribhuvan International Airport in capital Kathmandu city at 10.33 am.

The 9N ANC ATR 72 aircraft had four crew, two pilot, two air hosteses aboard, Yeti Airlines Spokesperson, Sudarshan Bartaula was quoted as saying in RSS as reported by The Himalayan Times.

According to Tek Bahadur KC, Chief District Officer of the Kaski district, the plane crashed into the Seti river gorge, the Nepali newspaper reported.

The deceased included five Indians.

Apart from them, 10 other international tourists died in the flight mishap, which is now being considered as one of the worst witnessed in the country in the last three decades.

The deceased included four Russians, two Koreans, and an Australian, an Irish, an Argentinian and a French.

Local resident Deeveta Kal told the BBC how she rushed to the crash site after seeing the aircraft plunge from the sky shortly after 11:00am local time (05:15 GMT).

"By the time I was there the crash site was already crowded. There was huge smoke coming from the flames of the plane. And then helicopters came over in no time," she said.

"The pilot tried his best to not hit civilisation or any home," Deevta Kal added. "There was a small space right beside the Seti River and the flight hit the ground in that small space."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers following the mishap.

As per local media reports, he is also scheduled to visit Pokhara to inspect the situation.