A small passenger plane belonging to Nepal's Saurya Airlines crashed and caught fire while taking off from the capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing 18 people on board and leaving one survivor, the captain, officials said, Paralel.Az reports citing Reuters.

"Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital," said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, spokesman for Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.

The 50-seater plane, carrying two crew members and 17 technicians, was heading for regular maintenance to Nepal's new Pokhara airport, which is equipped with aircraft maintenance hangars, the officials said.