ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan International Airlines plane with 47 people on board crashed today in a hilly area near the garrison town of Abbottabad while on its way to the capital.
The ATR plane PK-661 with 47 people, including singer- turned-Islamic-preacher Junaid Jamshed, on board crashed near Havelian while en route to Islamabad from Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The national carrier’s flight departed from Chitral around 3:30 PM and was expected to land at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport at around 4:40 PM.
A PIA spokesman confirmed that the pilot of the ill-fated plane had given a ‘mayday’ distress call to traffic control before it went off the radar.
“The ATR aircraft flight had 42 passengers, including nine women and two infants, along with two air hostesses and three pilots,” he said.
The flight initially left from Peshawar for Chitral and was returning to Islamabad from there before it went off the radar. (AGENCIES)
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