Islamabad: Almost 47 passengers have been feared dead as a PIA plane flying from Chitral has reportedly crashed on its flight to Islamabad.
Flight PK-661 having 47 passengers went missing near Abbottabad while it was on its way to Islamabad.
The PIA flight departed from Chitral at around 3:30pm and was expected to land at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad at almost 4:40pm.
Pop singer turned religious leader Junaid Jamshed along with his wife have also been reportedly killed the plane crash.
Brother of Junaid Jamshed has confirmed the reports of Junaid Jamshed traveling in the ill-fated plane.
A PIA representative told media that flight PK-661 had disappeared from the air control radar.
As per the military’s media wing ISPR, army troops as well as helicopters have been send off to the crash site for the rescue efforts.
“We regret to inform that PIA’s ATR-42 aircraft operating as PK-661, carrying approximately 47 passengers lost its contact with control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad just few minutes ago. All resources are being mobilized to locate the airplane. Media will be kept informed as the situation develops,” PIA spokesperson Danial Gilani said in a statement.
He furthermore said that:
“The emergency response center of PIA has been activated and can be accessed at following phone numbers for updates: 0092-21-99044890, 0092-21-99044376 and 0092-21-99044394.”
The list of the passengers travelling in the ill-fated plane, PK-661 is given below: