Braunschweig, Germany - A German accident investigator is bound for Nepal after an air crash at a Himalayan airstrip that killed 18 people this week, the German aviation accident inquiry agency BFU said Thursday.

Among the dead in the crash at Lukla were 12 German tourists.

The BFU said at its office in Braunschweig, northern Germany, that Nepal had cleared its staffer to attend the investigation as an observer.

The precise contribution from the German would be up to the chief Nepalese investigator to decide.

A Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed Wednesday during its landing approach to the airstrip, which is at an altitude of nearly 3,000 metres.

News reports from the scene have said the charred bodies were recovered from the wreckage and taken to Kathmandu.

The German Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it had been advised by Nepalese authorities that identification of the remains could take several more days.

Because of this, the ministry was not going to disclose the ages and addresses of the dead yet.

Hauser Exkursionen, a Munich travel agency that arranged the Germans' trip, also said it was waiting for the identifications. (dpa)