Passenger plane carrying over 150 people crashes in Pak

A Pakistani passenger plane carrying over 150 people crashed into the heavily forested Margalla Hills surrounding Islamabad due to bad weather on Wednesday.  
 

The Airbus aircraft of the private airline Air Blue hit the Margalla Hills near the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint Wednesday morning, officials of the police and a state-run rescue service said.

The aircraft, flying from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi, was preparing to land when it crashed, said Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Spokesman Pervez George.

"There were 146 passengers and six crew on board," he said. "When it was preparing to land, it crashed in the Margalla Hills." Islamabad has been hit by heavy rains for the past few days and the city was covered by fog and low clouds.

A spokesperson for the state-run Rescue 1122 service said there were reports that at least 150 people were on the aircraft. Rescue works were being affected by bad weather and smoke and fire at the crash site, which is not accessible by tracks or roads.

The crash occurred in an area that is not accessible by roads or trials. Rescue workers said they were facing problems in approaching the crash site. The heavy rains too were hampering rescue efforts.

So far five bodies were recovered from the site. "Several bodies are lying in the area. Four or five bodies have been taken," Imtiaz Inayat, a senior Islamabad municipal official, told Geo television.

"There is fire across a large area. Rescue teams have been sent. Helicopters have been deployed," he added. Civil aviation officials said the aircraft had disappeared from radar screens shortly before the crash was reported. It had taken off from Karachi at 7.50 am.

The crash occurred in an area that is not easily accessible as the Margalla Hills are covered by thick forests.