A Nepal Airlines airplane that was chartered to bring specimens of people suspected to have Covid-19 skidded off the runway in Nepalgunj on Saturday morning.

According to Nepalgunj airport, all five people on board the plane—two medical personnel and three pilots—are safe.

The plane skidded off the runway while landing and stopped near the wired boundary.

The airlines' Chinese aircraft, Y12e, was chartered by the Health Ministry to bring nasal and throat samples collected at various hospitals for testing at the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu.

Another Nepal Airlines aircraft has been sent to Nepalgunj to airlift the medical team, crew and samples.

Samples for Covid-19 can be tested in the country only in Kathmandu at the National Public Health Laboratory.

A fourth person tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, making him the first case outside the Valley of the coronavirus, raising concerns among health officials if there are more cases outside the Capital.

Nepal reported its first Covid-19 case in January, but later declared it recovered.

The second positive case was confirmed on Monday on a 19-year-old student who had travelled from France via Qatar. The laboratory on March 25 confirmed the third positive case of Covid-19 on a 32-year-old man who had travelled from Sharjah on an Air Arabia flight on March 19.