Kathmandu, July 12 -- All domestic and international flights were cancelled or diverted following the closure of Nepal's only international airport for eight hours on Friday after a plane skidded off the runway amid a heavy monsoon downpour.

A Yeti Airlines aircraft from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu careened 20 metres off the runway and onto the grass while landing from the Koteshwor side on Friday morning. All 72 people, including two minors and four crew members on board the aircraft, safely disembarked, said Bhim Raj Rai, media manager at Yeti Airlines.

Although the Tribhuvan International Airport said in a statement that three passengers had sustained minor injuries during the incident and were taken to Kathmandu Medical College, a medica...