By IRNA,
Islamabad : A Pakistan private airlines says its passengers flight ‘crashed during poor weather and thick fog’ near Islamabad Wednesday.
Plane of the private Airblue airlines, which was coming to Islamabad from the port city of Karachi, hit the Margalla Hills at 9:30 a.m., officials said. The Margalla Hills—the foothills of the Himalayas—are a series of small-elevation hills located north of Islamabad.
“We regret the loss of life and are investigating the exact circumstances of this tragedy.
This will be presented as soon as possible,” a statement from the Airblue airlines said on its website.
“Airblue, with great sadness, announces the loss of flight ED 202 inbound from Karachi to Islamabad,” the airlines said.
“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew,” the statement said.
The Airblue Operations official, W. Hameed Mirza told reporters that 152 passengers and crew members were on board of the plane. He said over 100 people feared dead in the crash.
Chairman Capital Development Authority Enayat Elahi said that 40 bodies have been recovered from the crash site atop the hills.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani took aerial view of the crashed site of aeroplane and observed that the access to the accident site was quite difficult thus hampering the rescue operation, the PM office said.
The Prime Minister expressed deep sense of sorrow and grief over the unfortunate accident and issued instructions to concerned organizations for holding a high level inquiry to determine the cause of the tragedy.
Officials say that there is no hope of any survivor and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who earlier said that five people were survived, withdrew his earlier statement.