ISLAMABAD: An passengers plane of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) en route Islamabad from Chitral carrying 47 passengers crashed near near Havailian, Abbotabad.
According to sources, PIA flight PK-661 was flying from Chitral to Islamabad and its contact with control room lost near Havelian.
DIG Hazara Saeed Khan said that a plane had crashed near Havelian in a hilly area. According to eyewitness, flames and smokes billowing from the site of the crash can be seen.
A spokesperson of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that plane was to land at Islamabad airport at 4:40, however, control room lost contact with the ill-fated plane after 4:20pm.
The flight has took off at 3:50 from Chitral airport but could not reach its destination at the scheduled time.
The plane manifest shows there were to be 31 men, 9 women and 2 infants on board the flight, including singer-cum-evangelist Junaid Jamshed and his family, as well as three foreigners.
PIA’s emergency response center can be contacted at 0092-21-99044890, 0092-21-99044376 and 0092-21-99044394.
According to military’s media wing, ISPR, army troops and helicopters have been dispatched to the site of the crash.
Among the passengers of the ill-fated plane, renowned preacher Junaid Jamshed, his family and Deputy Commissioner Chitral Usama Warraich are also included .
‘Survivor unlikely’
A government official on the scene told Reuters that there are unlikely to be any survivors.
“All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered,” Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region, told Reuters.
Khan, who was at the site of the crash, added that witnesses told him “the aircraft has crashed in a mountainous area, and before it hit the ground it was on fire.”
An eyewitness, Jumma Khan, said, “The bodies we have taken out are not intact. They are beyond recognition. We cannot tell women from men… they are just legs and arms.”
A rescue team member, Kashif, speaking to state television said, “We put the fire out by putting sand on the branches and area surrounding the crash site. The debris could have been scattered about 100 metres out. The plane actually fell in a canal behind the mountains so the debris is not very scattered.”
“People on the ground told me that the plane dragged two or three times before it fell into a tank of water. There is no question of landing in this terrain for helicopters or planes. There are settlements on both sides of the crash site.”
This is developing story and will be updated accordingly.
