A passenger plane carrying 67 passengers and four crew has crashed off the runway while trying to land at Kathmandu airport in Nepal.

say the aircraft from US-Bangla, a Bangladeshi airline, had flown in from Dhaka and came off the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport, catching fire.

Initial said 17 have been rescued but casualties are feared.

The airport was shut down and other flights were diverted, according to an airport spokesperson.

Kathmandu International Airport, as TIA is also known, has a reputation for being one of the most difficult in the world for pilots to land, because of surrounding mountains.