KATHMANDU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the US-Bangla Airlines said a Chinese national was among the passengers of the plane that crashed in Nepal on Monday.

At least 49 people were killed and 17 injured after a passenger plane of the US-Bangla Airlines crashed at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

According to the airlines' spokesman, the passengers onboard included 32 people from Bangladesh, 33 from Nepal, one from China and one from the Maldives.

There were altogether 71 people onboard the plane, including four Bangladeshi crew members, according to a statement released by the Bangladeshi ministry of foreign affairs late Monday night.

Twenty-two people, including 9 Bangladeshis, have been rescued alive and taken to hospitals, said the statement.

The UBG211 flight was en route to Kathmandu from Dhaka, Bangladesh. The ill-fated plane was said to have circled the airport twice before trying landing.

The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu said it had sent staff to the crash site and the hospitals to make further confirmations.