Olumide Lawal with Agency Report
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) PK-661 carrying 42 passengers and five crew members from the northern city of Chitral to Islamabad has crashed.
The plane which crashed on Wednesday near Abbottabad departed from Chitral at 3:30pm and disappeared from the air control radar soon after takeoff.
Passengers list revealed that 47 people were on board the aircraft, including five crew members. Former singer Junaid Jamshed along with his family, as well as DC Chitral and his wife were also onboard.
In a statement by PIA spokesperson, Danial Gilani, the plane lost its contact with control tower and all resources are being mobilized to locate the aircraft.
“We regret to inform that PIA’s ATR-42 aircraft operating as PK-661, carrying around 40 persons lost its contact with control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad. All resources are being mobilised to locate the aircraft.” he said.
The statement further said military’s media wing ISPR said the Pakistan Army dispatched troops and helicopters to the crash site for rescue efforts.
The prime minister has also directed all authorities to immediately reach the site and start rescue and relief operations.
It would be recalled that in 2012, a passenger aircraft had crashed near Islamabad while trying to land during a thunderstorm, killing all 127 people on board.
The Bhoja Air Flight B-213 from Karachi burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of the capital as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport.
Also, in 2010, an Air Blue flight ED-202 from Karachi had crashed into Margalla Hills near the capital with 152 people on board.
