Pak plane crash: 127 dead, confirms Defence minister

A Pakistani passenger jet with 127 people on board crashed Friday as it was landing at an airport near Islamabad, officials said. According to the Dawn, the Pakistan defence minister has confirmed that all 127 people are dead. Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar told The Associated Press the Bhoja Air jet crashed Friday, just a few kilometres (miles) away from the airport in Islamabad. Reuters reports that the airliner was traveling from Pakistan’s biggest city and commercial hub Karachi to the capital Islamabad. According to TV reports, bad weather is believed to have caused the crash. Atleast 118 people are feared dead. The plane crashed in a civilian area near the airport. According to IBN-live finding survivors could be tough and an emergency has been declared in Rawalpindi. The airliner crashed into a farmland and is completely destroyed says an eyewitness. [caption id=“attachment_283177” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Screengrab from IBN-Live”]  [/caption] A violent rain and wind storm was lashing parts of the capital around the same time as the crash. “We can see the plane’s wreckage is on fire and we are trying to extinguish it,” emergency official Saifur Rehman told Geo TV from the scene. “We are looking for survivors.” He says the plane was in flames and rescue teams were at the scene. 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 flashlights as they combed the area. The last major plane crash in the country — and Pakistan’s worst ever — occurred in July 2010 when an Airbus A321 aircraft operated by Airblue crashed in the hills overlooking Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board. A government investigation blamed the pilot for veering off course amid stormy weather. The impact of the crash was devastating, scorching a wide swath of the hillside and scattering wreckage over a kilometre (half-mile) stretch. Most bodies were so badly damaged that identification will require DNA testing. With inputs from AP