TTF  news:A small plane carrying 23 people crashed in mountainous terrain minutes after takeoff from the city of Pokhara, Nepal, on Wednesday, killing all aboard, rescuers said.

Rescue workers have retrieved 17 bodies, said Bishworaj Khadka, deputy police superintendent in the Myagdi district, about 100 miles northwest of Kathmandu, the capital. Among the dead were two foreigners, one from China and one from Kuwait.

Mr. Khadka said that the plane had broken into fragments and that bodies were unrecognizable.

The minister for civil aviation, Ananda Prasad Pokharel, said bad weather was the probable cause. "The weather was not so clear," Mr. Pokharel said. "Snowfall, rain and thick fog are responsible for the crash." He said his agency would investigate why the plane took off in bad weather.

The plane, which was headed to the city of Jomsom from Pokhara, was a 9NA-HH Twin Otter just purchased by Tara Air, a domestic carrier. The airliner also confirmed the death of all passengers and crew members. Jomsom, about 200 miles northwest of Kathmandu, is the gateway city to a temple that is popular with Hindus and Buddhists.

Pavan Gautam, an air traffic controller at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, said the plane took off at 7:50 a.m. and vanished after 11 minutes. Two infants were among those aboard, he said.

Nepal's aviation sector has a poor safety record. In 2013, the European unio banned Nepal-based airlines from flying in the airspace of the 28-member bloc.

Bird strikes, treacherous terrain and unpredictable weather frequently cause plane crashes in Nepal. A United States Marine helicopter deployed to support earthquake victims last May crashed on a high mountain pass, killing six Marines, two Nepalese Army officials and five civilians. Weeks later, a helicopter flown by Doctors without Borders crashed northeast of the capital while transporting medicine, killing all four aboard.