Pakistani plane with 152 aboard crashes

A passenger plane with at least 152 people on board crashed Wednesday as it came in to land at Islamabad, Pakistan, during heavy rain.

An official said forestry guards were reporting at least five people had been killed.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. He said the Airblue plane was flying from Karachi to Islamabad and described the weather conditions as difficult.

"The plane was about to land at the Islamabad airport when it lost contact with the control tower, and later we learned that the plane had crashed," George said.

Guards with the forestry service said they had found some wreckage and seen some bodies, police official Mohammad Saeed said.

The army said it was sending troops to the area to help out along with helicopters.

"There were 146 passengers and six crewmen on board," Mubarik Shah, spokesman of the state-run Civil Aviation Authority, told Reuters.


The accident occurred in the rugged Margalla Hills near the Damanekoh resort.

Rescue workers were heading to the scene, but the roads were difficult.

Eyewitnesses saw the aircraft flying very low, local media reported.

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

NDTV of India reported that the rescue helicopters had reached the crash site and that thick black smoke could be seen rising from wreckage.

Pakistani media reported that thick fog was likely to impede rescue and relief operations.

An emergency has been declared at all hospitals in Islamabad, local media reported.

The Margalla Hills surround the northeast area of the capital city, said Xinhua news agency.

There are anti-aircraft guns and many Pakistani troop checkpoints in some areas of the hills due to security concerns.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.