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Pakistan plane crash

April 20, 2012

A landing attempted during bad weather in Pakistan has turned tragic, as the plane carrying almost 130 people crashed and burst into flames.

https://p.dw.com/p/14iVB
Rescue workers inspect the wreckage of a Bhoja Airline Boeing 737-200 airliner
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A Bhoja Air passenger plane carrying 127 people crashed as it attempted to land in bad weather at an airport near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Rawal Khan Maitla, director general of Emergency Disaster Management for the Capital Development Authority, said there were no survivors. The assessment echoed that offered earlier by police representatives.

A defense ministry spokesman, when asked about survivors, said "so far there is no good news."

The site of the crash was a few miles away from the airport and appeared to be in a rural area outside the city. There were no immediate reports that people on the ground had been hurt.

"The wreckage is on fire, the plane is completely destroyed," Saifur Rehman, an official from the plane rescue team, said on Geo television, adding that there were bodies scattered everywhere. "We have come with teams of firefighters and searchlights and more rescuers are coming."

The Boeing 737 had been traveling from Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, to Islamabad when it went down.

Bhoja Air recently resumed flight operations in Pakistan after being shut down in 2000 by the Civil Aviation Authorities due to financial difficulties.

In 2010, 152 people were killed on an Airbus 321 operated by Airblue that was flying on the same route. The aircraft crashed in bad weather on approach to Islamabad from Karachi.

mz, rc/pfd (AFP, Reuters, AP)