New Delhi (CNN) -- A 14-year-old Indian actress, Taruni Sachdev, was among the passengers who died in Monday's plane crash in Nepal, officials said.
Jaikumar Thakur, a doctor at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, told CNN that Sachdev was traveling with her mother, who also lost her life in the crash.
The two were among 21 people on board a small plane that crashed after it was unable to land in a mountainous area of Nepal, killing 15.
The plane was about a mile from the airport at Jomsom, a popular tourist town in central Nepal, when it went down, said Purusottam Shakya, deputy director of air traffic service operations in Kathmandu. It was operated by Agni Air, a Nepalese carrier.
Taruni shot to national fame for her role as a schoolgirl alongside India's superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek in "Paa" (Father), a movie with disability as its theme.
Amitabh, who played Abhishek's son in the film, portrayed a child with a genetic condition that leads to premature ageing.
"Just reading that Tarini (Taruni) Sachdev the girl child artist in Paa, has perished in Nepal plane crash... please God may this not be true," Bachchan senior tweeted after the crash.
Abhishek Bachchan also mourned the loss.
"SHOCKED and very saddened to hear about the Nepal plane crash. Lost 1 of my cutest co-stars. Little Taruni Sachdev from PAA. Speechless.....," he said in a tweet.
Taruni also starred in dozens of TV commercials.
article source: CNN
