HUSSAIN ABAD, Pakistan, April 20, (Agencies): Up to 130 people are feared dead after a Boeing 737 crashed while trying to land in a thunderstorm near the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday, officials said.
The Bhoja airline flight from Karachi came down outside Islamabad’s international airport, police official Fazle Akbar said, adding that emergency teams have been sent to the site.
“There is no chance of any survivors. It will be only a miracle. The plane is totally destroyed,” he told AFP from the crash site.
There were conflicting reports about how many people were on board the plane.
A senior defence ministry official said initial reports suggested there were 126 people on board, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said it was carrying 121 passengers and nine crew, while the chief of Islamabad police Bani Amin told AFP from the crash site that 127 were on board.
Survivors
Asked if there were any survivors, the defence ministry official said: “So far there is no good news.”
Torn fragments of the fuselage, including a large section bearing the airline’s logo, could be seen in television footage.
Rescue crews combed through the charred wreckage of the plane as passengers’ belongings — clothes, shoes, jewellery — ripped from their luggage, lay strewn on the ground.
Pakistan Navy official Captain Arshad Mahmood said the crash occurred as the plane approached the runway to land.
“The weather was very bad, there was hail and thunderstorm. The pilot lost control and hit the ground. It tossed up due to the impact and exploded and came down in a fireball,” he said.
At the scene of the crash the smell of burning filled the air and human limbs were scattered in a large area spattered with blood, witnesses said.
An AFP reporter said at least two oxygen masks from the plane were seen lying on the ground.
Saifur Rehman, an official from the police rescue team, said the plane came down in Hussain Abad village, about three kilometres (two miles) from the main Islamabad highway.
Fire
“Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage is on fire, the plane is completely destroyed,” Rehman told Geo television.
A military official said army rescue teams with ambulances and special equipment had been dispatched to the scene.
An airport source said the plane had been due to land at Islamabad airport at 6:50 pm (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the control tower at 6:40 pm and crashed shortly afterwards before reaching the runway.
Bhoja Air relaunched domestic operations with a fleet of five 737s in March, according to newspaper reports, when the airline was planning to start flights connecting Karachi, Sukkur, Multan, Lahore and Islamabad.
Bhoja had been grounded in 2000 by the Civil Aviation Authorities amid financial difficulties, the reports said.
The worst aviation tragedy on Pakistani soil came in July 2010 when an Airbus 321 passenger jet operated by the private airline Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi.
All 152 people on board were killed in the accident, which occurred amid heavy rain and poor visibility.
The deadliest civilian plane crash involving a Pakistani jet came in 1992 when a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on its approach to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, killing 167 people. A man who had been waiting at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport for the flight yelled “my two daughters are dead” as tears streamed down his face.
In a state of shock, he then slumped on the floor and sat silently as other relatives of passengers crowded around lists of those on board.
The uncle of the sisters, 18 and 20, said they were supposed to return to Islamabad on Sunday but flew early to see an aunt who is visiting from London.
“We don’t even know when or where we will get to see their bodies,” said the uncle, Qamar Abbas, who kept mumbling “no, no, no” to himself.
Nearby, relatives of passengers hugged each other and sobbed. One man cried “my kids, my kids”.
Among them was Zarina Bibi, desperate to determine whether her husband was on the flight. “He called me before leaving Karachi but I don’t know if he was on this flight or not,” said Bibi, whose eyes were red from crying.
State television reported that all hospitals in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi had been put on high alert after the crash.
“My brother’s wife was on board this flight,” said Naveed Khan, who was among family members who gathered at Karachi’s airport. “We pray for the departed souls, what else can we do now?”
Wreckage, including smashed seats, clothes and jewelry belonging to passengers, was spread out over a one-kilometer (half-mile) wide area.
“I saw nothing but body parts and twisted metal on the ground when reached the scene,” said local resident Mustafa, who only gave one name. “We collected up small pieces of human flesh and bundled them in cloth sheets like we collect grain.”
Islamabad police chief Bani Yameen said that nobody on the ground appeared to be killed, “but apparently all onboard perished.” Civil aviation officials also reported survivors were unlikely, said Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.
Several farmers threshing wheat in the field near the crash said they saw the craft burst into flames when it hit the ground.
“The flames leapt up like they were touching the sky,” said Mohammad Zubair.
A long row of coloured sheets at the edge of the fields covered the remains of victims recovered from the crash site so far.
Part of the plane’s wing fell on a house in the village. The owner Intezar Hussain said it damaged a balcony but caused no casualties.
“The plane came down with huge noise,” his son Jaffer Hussain said. “Its pilot perhaps tried to land into the farmland. It hit trees and exploded,” he said.
“It all happened in front of my eyes. I rushed away to save my life. When I looked back I saw flames were coming out of the plane.
“It crashed in heavy rains. There was thunder also.”
A large section of wing with the airline logo and an engine could be seen among the debris.
There were emotional scenes at Islamabad airport as distraught relatives wept bitterly for the victims of the crash.
“I had come to receive my newly wed son and daughter-in-law. My son Sajjad Ali married only 20 days back. He was coming with his wife Sania Abbas today, I had come to receive the couple,” said one heartbroken old man.
“My wife was on the plane, she was alone, going to see her parents,” said Arshad Hussain, 27, tears rolling down his cheeks.
He had married just a few months ago.
“I have seen the name of my sister and her infant girl,” said Mohammad Usman. “Our lives have been devastated.”
Kuwait
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable to Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, in which he expressed his deep condolence and sincere sympathy to the victims of the Pakistani plane crash, praising the mighty Allah to bless the victims with his mercy and inspire their families patience and solace.
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah also sent a cable of condolence Zardari.
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent a similar cable to the Pakistani President.