Pakistan Air Crash: Passenger Plane Crashes Near Islamabad

Wreckage at the crash site

A passenger plane carrying 127 people has crashed into a residential area on its approach to Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan.

The Bhoja Air Boeing 737, flight BHO-213, was descending for landing when the incident happened as it flew from Karachi.

Pakistan's Defence Minister said that the plane burst into flames a few miles from the airport near Chaklala, Rawalpindi, at around 18:40 local time.

There were 118 passengers and nine crew on-board.

Pakistani Police have said there is 'no chance' of any survivors.

Karachi and Islamabad airports have been besieged with distraught relatives of those on board.

The plane came down near a residential complex but it is unclear if there were any casualties on the ground.

Rescue teams are at the scene and emergency official Saifur Rehman said: "We can see the plane's wreckage is on fire and we are trying to extinguish it. We are looking for survivors."

Local TV footage shows people searching by torchlight amongst mangled wreckage.

The cause is unknown but heavy rain was reported in the area at the time of the crash.

Bhoja Air had previously stopped operating in 2001 due to financial difficulties and had only started operating again last month.

Pakistan's worst air disaster happened only last July when a passenger plane crashed killing all 152 people on board.

More to follow...

Comments

[emulsifier]

11:11 AM on 04/21/2012

What huge ijiots on these sections. I am surprised they can complete out a thought process.

How can you call yourself a HUMAN and not FEEL for the loss of life. (don't give me that 'they aren't innocent'). How were they not innocent. There were 4 infants on that flight. Are they terrorists?

Come on, use the brain that nature endowed you with. Why would use only your simple ability to make correlations that all primates can do.

Why instead would you not think BETTER and say, OH event A happened in Pakistan/caused by a Pakistani, BUT event B is a totally unrelated event happening to a different people from the same population.

Arghhh.. why are there dumb@zzes on this planet. WHYYYYYYYY!!!!!??

[sabpol]

08:59 AM on 04/21/2012

It doesn't matter what religion the people on board were the fact is they died in tragic circumstances, they were someone's son/daughter, mother/father, sister/brother, they were human beings and there will be family grieving for the loss of their loved ones so please stop the heartless comments

[ppixpix]

10:37 AM on 04/21/2012

9/11 all the taxi drivers tooting thier horns the whites dont give a toss get over it

[rodger rabbit]

07:13 AM on 04/21/2012

""Oh no not today again"".... The Huff police are on patrol again picking and choosing the comments that can or cannot be read by the British public..

[Flinglebunt]

01:25 PM on 04/21/2012

So they should.
How would you feel if one or more of YOUR family were on that plane and you read some of the rubbish here?

[ppixpix]

08:48 AM on 04/21/2012

nop and no one eles does

[emulsifier]

11:04 AM on 04/21/2012

Or perhaps it's science. And thanks to natural selection, your kind wouldn't survive very long.

Go read some science. Tropics have more droughts, and flooding because of the geographical area. I haven't heard of a Tsunami plague Island nations, majority of those are not Muslim.

[daily record]

04:26 AM on 04/21/2012

Did anyone survive? I am having a bad day.

[daily record]

04:18 AM on 04/21/2012

Oh dear,
and none survived

[kangowolf2]

12:01 PM on 04/21/2012

I hope there were NO empty seats on the plane. Now THAT would be tragic

[Flinglebunt]

01:23 PM on 04/21/2012

And you consider yourself superior to them I suppose?

You are pathetic

[effort]

01:33 PM on 04/21/2012

sick f^^^k.

[purple1236]

02:45 AM on 04/21/2012

HUFF POST .... off

[purple1236]

02:42 AM on 04/21/2012

PC BRIGADE OUT IN FORCE I SEE MY COMMENT NOT ALLOWED

[roseandpeony]

10:38 AM on 04/21/2012

Which comment was that? Surely it wasn't racist?

[Fozwords]

12:18 PM on 04/21/2012

such language, but you are correct. xxx

[Ian Llangan]

10:12 PM on 04/20/2012

Islam and modern technology don't mix well when it comes the well-being of living creatures.

[emulsifier]

11:04 AM on 04/21/2012

What does Islam have to do with it?

[Flinglebunt]

01:46 PM on 04/21/2012

You mean like B52s and Napalm and carpet bombing and delayed action bomblets and atom bombs used on cities ......

.... errrr sorry, those were WHITE CHRISTIAN things weren't they, so they don't count.

Did you know that CHRISTIANS have bombed 28 different countries since WW2 killing millions of people? When we attacked Iraq we killed in excess of 20,000 CIVILIANS in the first three days of the bombings alone. Embargoes over the previous decade cost 2,000,000 lives.

And you wonder why so many hate the US.

[Ian Llangan]

10:15 AM on 04/23/2012

Big difference: those wars were not fought in the name of advancing Christianity. And I don't wonder why so many hate the US, as I am hardly their biggest cheerleader, but this isn't about Americans, so your point is irrelevant and a non-sequitir.

[treetontaxis]

07:03 PM on 04/20/2012

the defence minister said the plane was on fireseveral miles from the airport later in thearticle no clue on what caused the tragedy but itwas heavey rain at the time. pardon me for being a idiot but how did the rain cause it to catch fire if i remember correctly from my school days water (rain) puts fires out not cause them . what ever the cause this is a tragedy and my prayers go out to the dead and there families R.I.P

[Flinglebunt]

01:58 PM on 04/21/2012

Just one scenario to what you said here is that if the plane was at high altitude and flew through storm clouds the fan blades in the jet engines may have been damaged by ice entering them. If it had been just one engine that got damaged it would not be a problem as the pilot could simply shut it down.

If both engines were damaged and he was over rough or hilly terrain he would have no option but to keep them running as best he could and what witnesses likely saw was the engines back fireing as fuel failed to combust properly.

Clearly he struggled to get the stricken plane to an airport in bad weather as the engines would be rapidly disintegrating and losing power. He did not make it .... just thank god it was not your holiday flight, this can happen to any aircraft under the right conditions.

[treetontaxis]

03:50 PM on 04/22/2012

yes see where you are coming from but about it not being my holiday flight
that will never happen i keep my feet fairly and squarely on terra firma

[radian]

06:38 PM on 04/20/2012

Awfull, but must be act of Allah?

[emulsifier]

11:05 AM on 04/21/2012

For the believer, yes, because there is solace in that thought.
For the non-believe, it's mother nature.

What's your point?

[MsBubblyBlonde]

01:28 PM on 04/21/2012

What's YOUR point?.You are sniping at everyones posts just because they don't share your love of Pakistanis.

[Mad Mick]

04:25 PM on 04/20/2012

Crocodile tears eh? Shame on you!

[treetontaxis]

07:05 PM on 04/20/2012

ALWAYS ONE WHO HAS TO MAKE SOME SORT OF RACIST COMMENT GROW UP PEOPLE HAVE DIED SHOW RESPECT AND YES I AM SHOUTING

[purple1236]

02:41 AM on 04/21/2012

Yes and if the countries look after their own , we would not have them .AND I CAN SHOUT ASWELL

[Philduck]

03:35 PM on 04/20/2012

Well, it wasn't PIA (Panic In the Air) as my Pakistani work colleagues used to call the national carrier.

[BigGrump]

04:45 PM on 04/20/2012

My colleagues used to call it Pray In Advance

[black kettle]

02:29 PM on 04/20/2012

The Pakistani president's sister is/was planning to buy national carrier because of the losses its incurring. Now the question that comes to mind is that how would an average joe have that kind of money? Answer: you need to be related to the Bhutto widdower (Pres. Zardari) aka Mr. 10% who has now moved on up to 100%. Now I'm sure that the owner of Bhoja paid Zardari or his henchmen something to get flying again. With the national carrier being bled by Zardari and his cronies, earnings from Bhoja would have been good for them cronies and their boss.

[fitzy42]

01:15 PM on 04/20/2012

oh dear