After the disappearance of a passenger plane with 22 people on board, military search and rescue workers have found 12 bodies in Nepal.

A spokesman for the Nepalese police told the German Press Agency on Monday.

An army spokesman said on Twitter that the plane crashed in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Mustang district in the north of the country.

An employee of the rescue team on site at around 4000 meters told the dpa that the chance of finding survivors was very small.

The scene is heartbreaking.

According to Nepalese information, two Germans were also on board the plane.

The Foreign Office in Berlin said on Sunday that the German embassy in Kathmandu was working hard to clarify the matter and was in contact with the Nepalese authorities.

Air traffic control lost contact with the machine around 10 a.m. on Sunday morning.

The plane of the Nepalese airline Tara Air was on the way from Pokhara - a popular tourist destination around 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu - to Jomsom with 19 passengers and 3 crew members.

The search for the machine was interrupted for the night due to poor visibility.

Pokhara is the starting point for numerous trekking tours, including the Annapurna circuit.

The Annapurna massif is a popular hiking region in the Himalayan country.

The Pokhara-Jomsom flight route is considered one of the most accident-prone routes in Nepal.

At least 74 people have died in five plane crashes along this route since 1997, according to the Nepali Times.