2010-07-28 14:20

ISLAMABAD - A commercial Pakistani passenger plane with more than 150 people on board crashed in bad weather on Wednesday in hills near the capital, Islamabad, an aviation spokesman said.

One body had been recovered, an official said.

The plane belonging to AirBlue, a private airliner, lost contact with the control room of the Islamabad International Airport at 0443 GMT while flying from the southern city of Karachi.

"There were 146 passengers and six crewmen on board. We are gathering information. We have no more details," Mubarik Shah, spokesman of the state-run Civil Aviation Authority, told Reuters.

A thick blanket of cloud could be rising from the forested Margalla Hills near Islamabad and a helicopter hovering overhead amid rain.

"It was raining. I saw the plane flying very low from the window of my office," witness Khadim Hussain said.

Pakistan's AAJ television showed footage of at least one helicopter hovering over what appeared to be the site of the crash, with columns of smoke billowing from heavily forested ground. Flames licked at trees in the area.

The cause of the crash could not be immediately ascertained.