Asia-Pacific
No Chinese found on passenger list in Pakistan plane crash
(Xnhua)
Updated: 2010-07-28 16:17
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ISLAMABAD - No Chinese or foreigners were found on the passenger name list which was released by the local authorities following a plane crash which took place on Wednesday morning in the Margalla Hills in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, officials with the Airblue airliner told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
The tragedy took place at about 10:00 am when an airbus flight of a Pakistani private airliner named Airblue, which reportedly carried 152 people including six crew members from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi crashed behind the mountains of Margalla Hills lying to the northeast of the capital.
Besides, some 20 dead bodies including the dead body of the pilot have been recovered from the crash site, said sources on the site, adding some of the dead bodies are still on fire. One of the dead bodies was identified as Barak or Barkat. No further details about the killed and survivors.
Two zoo keepers nearby the crash site told that they saw the plane taking very low flight brushing the trees on the ground and the pilots were trying desperately to take the nose up but failed.
Shortly after the incident happened, a large number of rescue teams have been dispatched to the crash site. A total of seven military helicopters have been dispatched to join the rescue work. All the hospitals in Pakistan's capital Islamabad have declared emergency.
Sources at the crash site told that the chance for the survival of the people aboard is very slim and local residents in the Margalla Hills also joined the military and police in the rescue work.
The Pakistani prime minister has ordered the military to conduct an investigation into the accident immediately.
The plane whose flight number is not known yet took off from the Karachi International Airport at about 7:50 am this morning. It was reported that the plane lost the contact with the control tower of the Islamabad airport at about 9:43 am local time before the crash.
Large crowds of relatives and friends planned to receive their loved ones taking the flight at the Islamabad airport were shocked upon hearing the news and were eager to know fate of them.
So far the reason for the crash is not known yet. The black box of the plane has not been found yet. It could be related to bad weather as it was raining heavily in Islamabad when the plane crashed. Many flights coming into Islamabad have been canceled due to bad weather.
The possibility of terrorism can not be ruled out as the terrorist groups in Pakistan have repeatedly threatened to blow airplanes during the last month or so.