KATHMANDU - At least 40 people were killed on Sunday when an aircraft crashed in western Nepal's Pokhara, a Nepal aviation authority official said, as hundreds of rescue workers scoured the hillside crash site.

The ill-fated ATR-72 plane from Yeti Airlines was flying to Pokhara from Kathmandu and crashed just a few minutes before landing, Jagannath Niroula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told Xinhua.

The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, including 15 foreigners, said Jagannath Niroula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

The plane was 15 years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

The ATR72 is a widely used twin engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.

Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.

Agencies via Xinhua