Islamabad: Pakistani police have held 250 people suspected to be involved in a gun attack on a plane Tuesday that killed one passenger and injured two crew members, a media report said Thursday.
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A-310, carrying 196 passengers and 10 crew members from Riyadh, came under fire while landing at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport, Dawn online reported.
A PIA spokesman said that a bullet pierced through a window and fatally hit a woman from Nowshera who was sitting next to it.
At least one bullet struck the plane’s engine, the spokesman said.
The flight was in the landing mode, flying at a low altitude of 300-400 feet, when it was fired at. Some bullets hit the cover of the engine but the plane landed safely, the spokesman added.
A police official said that a light gun was used, most likely a Kalashnikov.
Investigation is still under way, the police official added.
The United Arab Emirates’ Emirates airline has suspended all flights to Peshawar until further notice and Etihad Airways is still assessing the security situation until the next flight operations.
At least 30 people were killed June 8 when terrorists attacked Karchi’s Jinnah International Airport.
Terrorist groups Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) claimed responsibility for the attacks at the Karachi airport.