A passenger jet carrying 127 people on board has crashed into wheat fields near the Pakistani capital Islamabad as it tried to land in bad weather, according to the reports emerged from Islamabad on late afternoon Friday.
The officials at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the regulators of the aviation sector in Pakistan, ruled out the possibility of survivors as the wreckage of the plane burnt into ashes minutes after the crash.
Commenting on the tragedy, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar said that civil aviation officials believed that there was unlikely anyone had survived.
Emergency workers and bystanders used torches to search among smouldering wreckage and body parts for any sign of life at the crash site, which are just a few miles away from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-200 operated by Bhoja Air, a domestic carrier that has just four planes and only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 due to financial difficulties.
The flight was travelling from the country’s largest city of Karachi to the Pakistani capital, officials said.
It was unclear if any casualties occurred on the ground, but the crash happened in what appeared to be a relatively unpopulated rural area.
High winds and heavy rain had lashed parts of the capital during a storm at around the same time as the crash, which occurred at about 6.40pm local time.
TV footage showed wreckage of the plane, including parts of what looked like its engine and wing, up against the wall of a small building. Rescue officials were working in the dark, with many using torches as they combed the area.
Bhoja Air started domestic operations in Pakistan in 1993 and eventually expanded to international flights to the United Arab Emirates in 1998. The company suspended operations in 2001 due to financial difficulties but resumed them only this year.