Rescuers were battling cloudy weather and poor visibility as they scoured the river gorge for passengers who are unaccounted for, more than 24 hours after the crash. Sixty-eight bodies have been recovered.

"We saw a lot of smoke and realised it was an airline crash and we rushed to the site," said Mehmood Khan at the site of the crash. "My friend went down (the small hill) to look for survivors and took out at least 35 people (bodies)."

The plane, on a scheduled flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara, gateway to scenic Annapurna mountain range, was carrying 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one person each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France.