Pakistan plane with 47 on board crashes near Abbottabad
world Updated: Dec 07, 2016 19:44 ISTHindustan Times
File photo of an ATR aircraft of the Pakistan International Airlines. A similar aircraft, with 47 people on board, crashed on Wednesday while flying from Chitral to Islamabad. (Courtesy PIA)
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight with 47 people on board crashed near the garrison town of Abbottabad on Wednesday while flying to the national capital, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
Well-known singer-turned-evangelist Junaid Jamshed and members of his family were among the passengers of the ill-fated flight PK661, PIA officials and state-run media said.
The ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop aircraft was flying from Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to the capital Islamabad when it crashed close to Havelian in Abbottabad district, 75 km from Islamabad, police officials said.
PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said the last contact between the plane and ground control was at 4.30 pm local time, after which it disappeared from radars. CAA spokesman Pervez George confirmed the crash and said rescue teams had been dispatched to the site.
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Witnesses were quoted by Reuters as saying that many bodies were burned beyond recognition and that there were unlikely to be any survivors. The interior ministry dispatched a team with experts on identifying bodies through DNA tests.
Footage on state-run Pakistan Television showed a huge fire at the site of the crash. Villagers were seen standing near the site. The Pakistan Army also despatched troops and helicopters for the rescue efforts.
Pakistanβs last major air disaster was in 2015, when a military helicopter crashed in a re