Islamabad Plane Crashes

Passenger Plane Crashes Near Pakistani Capital - Islamabad.

A Pakistani passenger plane carrying at least 152 people crashed on Wednesday in the hills near Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, civil aviation officials and local media said. Rescuers were struggling to reach the aircraft and news agencies reported that at least five bodies had been recovered so far.

There was no immediate information on survivors.

The plane was operated by Airblue and was arriving from Karachi, according to The Associated Press.

Television footage showed clouds of smoke rising from the heavy forests of the Margalla Hills near Islamabad, where the plane was believed to have crashed. Helicopters were flying above what appeared to be a crash site as rescue crews arrived. Flames were visible from the area but it was not clear whether they were from the wreckage of the aircraft or trees that caught fire as the plane went down. The Margalla Hills are just north of Islamabad.

Grief-stricken relatives of survivors were seen gathered at Islamabad’s airport awaiting word on survivors.

The plane was an Airbus A321 and was carrying 146 passengers and six crew members, Pervez George, a local civil aviation official, told Dawn television. Mr. George was quoted by Dawn as saying the plane lost contact with the control tower in Islamabad and crashed amid thick fog and heavy rainfall in Islamabad.

NDTV, an Indian television broadcaster, reported from Islamabad that a woman saw the plane pass over her house just before the crash. The plane disappeared and she heard a loud explosion, she said.

“I don’t think they could see where they were going,” she said. “It went over my house. You could actually see that it was flying very low.”

The immediate focus would be on finding survivors, but an investigation would be launched, Airblue spokesman Raheel Ahmed told The Associated Press.

Airblue offers flights within Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as to Oman, Muscat and Manchester in Great Britain.