Pakistan plane crashes with 152 on board

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani private Airblue plane crashed into hills behind Islamabad on Wednesday while preparing to land after a flight from Karachi with 152 people on board, a civil aviation spokesman said.

There was no immediate casualty report.

Airblue flight 202 took off from Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city and financial capital at 7:45 am (0245 GMT) and had been preparing to land in Islamabad when it crashed, Pervez George told AFP by telephone.

“There were 146 passengers and six crew on board,” he said.

“When it was preparing to land, it crashed in the Margalla Hills.”

Thick smoke could be seen rising from an inaccessible region in the densely wooded hills, where helicopters circled overheaded and rescue services dispatched ambulances to the nearest roads, an AFP correspondent said.