All on board the Pakistani jet die

Up to 130 people are feared dead after a Boeing 737 crashed while trying to land in a thunderstorm near the Pakistani capital Islamabad yesterday, officials said.

The Bhoja airline flight from Karachi came down outside Islamabad’s international airport, police official Fazle Akbar said, adding that emergency teams were sent to the site.

“There is no chance of any survivors. It will be only a miracle. The plane is totally destroyed,” he said from the crash site.

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 said from the crash site that 127 were on board.

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.

A 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 from the main Islamabad highway.

“Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage is on fire, the plane is completely destroyed,” Mr 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 p.m. (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the control tower at 6.40 p.m. and crashed shortly afterwards before reaching the runway.