Twenty-two dead bodies have been recovered after a domestic plane crashed on Wednesday at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, said Hansa Raj Pandey, spokesman at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

Pandey told Xinhua that one injured person has been hospitalized, and the airport has been closed over the incident.

A witness said the plane nosedived into the ground and an explosion could be heard inside the airport.

The plane belonged to Nepal's Saurya Airlines, an airport spokesperson told Xinhua.

Of the 23 people on board of the plane of the Saurya Airlines bound for the city of Pokhara, 17 are from the airline, Pandey said.

xinhua