Bhoja Airlines Plane Crash in Rawalpindi, Over 130 feared dead
RAWALPINDI: A Bhoja Airline flight # B4-213 has reportedly crashed near Chaklala airbase.
All hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been put on alert.
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According to sources, a passenger airplane B4213, belonging to Bhoja airline crashed near Rawalpindi amid bad weather conditions.
A plane carrying 121 passengers has crashed in bad weather near Rawalpindi, aviation officials said.
The Bhoja Air jet went down in farmland just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar said.
There was no immediate word on any survivors.
A violent rain and wind storm was lashing parts of the capital around the same time as the crash.
The aircraft was scheduled to leave Karachi airport at 17:00 local time (12:00 GMT) and due to arrive at 19:00 (14:00 GMT).
Witnesses said that flame could be seen rising from the crash site and fire has reportedly engulfed several buildings.
Dead bodies are lying all around after jet goes down while landing, a witness said.
Police officials said emergency teams were on their way to the crash site. All hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been put on alert.
A passenger jet with more than 125 people on board crashed into wheat fields Friday as it was trying to land in bad weather at an airport near the capital, Islamabad, officials said.
Sobbing relatives of those on the flight flocked to the airport as a government minister expressed little hope of finding survivors.
Emergency workers and bystanders used flashlights to search among smoldering wreckage and body parts for any sign of life at the crash site, which was just a few miles away from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-200 operated by Bhoja Air, a domestic carrier that has just four planes and only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 due to financial difficulties. The flight was traveling from the country s largest city of Karachi to the Pakistani capital, officials said.
Relatives of those on the flight thronged Bhoja Air counters at Karachi and Islamabad airports, crying.
Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar said civil aviation officials had reported it was unlikely anybody had survived.
It was unclear if any casualties occurred on the ground, but the crash happened in what appeared to be a relatively unpopulated rural area.
A violent rain and wind storm was lashing parts of the capital around the same time as the crash, which occurred about 6:40 p.m.
“The plane crashed a few hundred yards away,” said Mohammad Zubair, who was threshing wheat.
“The flames leapt up like they were touching the sky.”
TV footage showed wreckage of the plane, including parts of what looked like its engine and wing, up against the wall of a small building. Rescue officials were working in the dark, with many using flashlights as they combed the area.
The last major plane crash in the country — and Pakistan s worst ever — occurred in July 2010 when an Airbus A321 aircraft operated by Airblue crashed in the hills overlooking Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board.
