Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661 carrying 47 passengers and crew crashed on the way to Islamabad from Chitral on Wednesday at 4:42pm PST. The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there are no survivors.Thirty six bodies have been recovered from the wreckage.
PIA Spokesman Daniyal Gilani said there were 42 passengers, five crew members and one ground engineer on board.
The passenger list confirmed there were 31 men, 9 women and 2 infants on board the flight, including singer-cum-evangelist Junaid Jamshed and his family, as well as three foreigners.
The ATR-42 aircraft departed from Chitral around 3:30pm and was expected to land at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport at around 4:40pm but crashed in Havelian near Abbottabad shortly after a distress call was sent to the control tower.
PIA's emergency response center can be contacted at 0092-21-99044890, 0092-21-99044376 and 0092-21-99044394.
'Survivors unlikely'
A government official on the scene said survivors are unlikely.
"All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered," Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region said.
Khan, who was at the site of the crash, added that witnesses told him "the aircraft has crashed in a mountainous area...before it hit the ground it was on fire."
An eyewitness, Jumma Khan, said, "The bodies we have taken out are in pieces. They are beyond recognition. We cannot tell women from men... they are just legs and arms."
Junaid Jamshed on board
Chitral airport sources and the passenger lists confirmed that Junaid Jamshed, his family, and Deputy Commissioner Chitral Osama Warraich were on board the flight and are assumed to be among the casualties.
Jamshed was in Chitral for a Tableeghi mission and was returning to Islamabad when the aircraft crashed. He was scheduled to deliver the Friday sermon at Parliament mosque. He was a prominent member of Pakistan's Tableeghi Jamaat, a global Islamic revivalist movement urging Muslims to return to Sunni Islam.
Jamshed rocketed to fame in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s as the singer for the Vital Signs rock group, and later launched a solo career, with a string of chart-topping albums and hits.The ATR turboprop aircraft crashed at Saddha Batolni village near the Pakistan Ordinance Factory, Havelian, PIA said.
Army troops and army helicopters were mobilised to the site and many bodies were recovered from the plane wreckage, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
There are 500 army troops, including doctors and paramedics, deployed at the crash site. ISPR added. Necessary vehicles and army ambulances are also taking part in the rescue operation.
The terrain is rugged and rescue and recovery operations were hindered because of nightfall and the cold. Sundown in Havelian took place at 4:57pm. Weather conditions were reportedly clear with almost no wind.
Ambulances were unable to reach at the site of the accident as the aircraft crashed on mountainous terrain.
'Unidentifiable bodies'
Eyewitnesses said the damage on the ground is "substantial".
A rescue team member, Kashif, speaking to state television said, "We put the fire out by putting sand on the branches and area surrounding the crash site. The debris was scattered about 100 metres out. The plane fell in a canal behind the mountains so the debris is not very scattered."
"People on the ground told me that the plane slammed onto the ground two or three times before it fell into a tank of water. There is no question of landing in this terrain for helicopters or planes. There are settlements on both sides of the crash site."
"We looked far and wide for scattered remains or bags but could not find any. The debris is limited to one area. Junaid Jamshed's visiting cards and ID cards have been recovered by a member of the rescue team," Kashif said. He added that dozens of police and rescue officials and about 20-30 villagers reached the spot and used the hot metal plates of the plane to dig up mud and put out the fire."
"The priority is to recover bodies. Then will come the recovery of the parts of the aircraft. I am told that the remains of 15-16 people have been recovered...five to six bodies were recovered from one spot, near the spot where the engine was seen. One was found 50 metres from the site. None are identifiable," he added.
Bodies recovered from the debris were sent for DNA testing to Ayub Medical Complex as they were not identifiable.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed concerned federal departments to immediately initiate rescue efforts and help the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Press Information Department said.
The civil administration also sent rescue teams to trace the wreckage and passengers, Radio Pakistan reported.
'ATR aircraft nearly 10-years-old'
PIA Spokesman Daniyal Gilani said, "A distress call was sent to the control tower... then the incident of the crash was reported."
He added that the ATR-42 aircraft which was "nearly 10 years old" claimed that it was "in good condition".
"PIA is doing everything possible to help the families of passengers and crew members for first hand information regarding the incident and damage."
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661 carrying more than 40 passengers crashed on the way to Islamabad from Chitral on Wednesday.
There were 31 men, nine women and two infants onboard the ill-fated flight.
The passenger list is below:
Pakistan International Airlines Passenger Manifest
Flight/Date – PK 0661 07DEC16
FROM CHITRAL─PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD─PAKISTAN
- Abid Qaiser
- Ahsan SS
- Ahtiram ul Haq
- Aisha
- Akbar Ali
- Akhtar Mehmood
- Amir Shoukat
- Amna Ahmed
- Maahrukh Ahmed
- Asim Waqas
- Ateeq Muhammad
- Farah Naz
- Farhat Aziz
- Gohar Ali
- Gul Norani
- Haji Nawaz
- Han Qiang
- Harald Kessler
- Hassan Ali
- Herwig Eichelbenger
- Junaid Nayha
- Khan Junaid Jamshed
- Mehmood Atud
- Mirza Gul
- Farhan Ali
- Muhammad Ali Khan
- Muhammad Khalid Masood
- Muhammad Khan
- Muhammad Khawar
- Muhammad Nouman Shafique
- Muhammad Takbeer Khan
- Nigar Uddin
- Osama Ahmed Warraich
- Rani Mehreen
- Salman Zainulabidin
- Sami SA
- Samina Gul
- Shamshad Begum
- Taiba Aziz
- Taimoor Arshid
- Umara Khan
- Zahida Perveen
Total Passengers
Male – 31 Female ─ 9 Infants ─ 2
