KATMANDU - All 22 passengers on a small plane died when it crashed in Nepal's mountainous east, searchers said Thursday after finding the wreckage of the plane that had gone missing a day earlier.

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The Rescue Coordination Committee at Katmandu Airport said Thursday that searchers found the wreckage near a village about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of the capital, Katmandu.

Police official Bhesh Bahadur Thapa stationed near the crash site said by telephone that the wreckage was scattered over an area of 1000 feet (300 meters) radius on the sides of a mountain. It was not yet clear what caused the crash.

Thapa said the rescuers were collecting the bodies and preparing them to be sent back to Katmandu.

The plane had been chartered to carry a group of pilgrims to a Hindu temple and was on its way back to the capital.

The Canadian-built Twin Otter aircraft belonging to domestic Tara Air was took off Wednesday from Lamidanda, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) to the east of Katmandu, and then disappeared.

Airport official Dinesh Shrestha said three rescue aircraft including an army helicopter scoured the area Wednesday evening and early Thursday and located the crash site.

The three crew members and 18 passengers were Nepali nationals, while another passenger was a Tibetan holding a US passport. Other details were not available.