Pakistan passenger jet crashes after takeoff with 48 people on board

A Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 48 passengers and crew crashed soon after takeoff on Wednesday while en route to Islamabad from the northern city of Chitral, a spokesman and police officials said.

According to senior police officer Khurram Rasheed, the plane crashed in a village near the town of Havelian, located about 45 miles northwest from the Pakistani capital. The small twin-propeller aircraft was travelling from the city of Chitral to Islamabad when it crashed shortly after takeoff.

The airline said there were 42 passengers, five crew members and one ground engineer on board.

It was not immediately clear what may have caused the crash. A local police official, Khursheed Tanoli, told state-run Pakistan Television that the plane went down in a village in the northwest and that rescuers were trying to reach the site of the crash. The army reportedly sent troops and helicopters to the crash site.

 

Pervez George, the spokesman for Civil Aviation Authority, told The Associated Press said: “I don’t think there is any chance of finding any survivor.”

In a statement, the military said that 36 bodies had been retrieved so far.

Shortly before the crash was confirmed, airlines spokesperson Daniyal Gilani said the ATR-42 aircraft operating as PK-661 carrying around 40 passengers and crew lost touch Wednesday with the control tower.

FOX NEWS