UPDATE - Nepal recovers 16 bodies from site of plane crash

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; REVISES DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - Rescuers have recovered 16 dead bodies at a site where the wreckage of a small passenger plane, carrying 22 people from Nepal's tourist city of Pokhara, was found on Monday morning, civil aviation authorities said.

Deo Chandra Lal, a spokesman for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, told Anadolu Agency that six people are still missing and the rescue operation is still underway.

A spokesman of the army on Monday morning announced that search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site.

The private plane, operated by Nepal's Tara Air, had gone missing soon after taking off Sunday from the tourist city of Pokhara.

There were 19 passengers and three crew members on board the 9N-AET Twin Otter aircraft, which was traveling to the Jomson area in western Nepal.

Search and rescue operations resumed Monday morning after they were halted Sunday evening due to adverse weather and loss of daylight, officials had said.

The Indian Embassy in Nepal said Sunday that four Indian nationals were among those on board the plane.