Eleven people who missed the plane at the Karachi airport, which crashed this morning in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, felt both relieved and sad for the loss of the lives of their compatriots aboard, Xinhua reported.
A plane bound to Islamabad from Turkey via Karachi crashed in the Margalla Hills in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Wednesday morning. The tragedy took place at about 10:00 am (local time) when an airbus flight of a Pakistani private airliner named Airblue, which reportedly carried 152 people including six crew members, crashed behind the mountains of the Margalla Hills lying to the northeast of the capital.
So far 40 survivors were found injured in the plane crash, sources at the site told Xinhua, adding the survivors have been rushed to hospitals.
Besides, some 20 dead bodies including that of the pilot have been recovered from the crash site, said sources at the scene, adding some of the dead bodies are still on fire. One of the dead bodies was identified as Barak or Barkat. No further details about the killed and survivors were available.
No Chinese or foreigners were found on the passenger name list which was released by the local authorities following the plane crash, officials with the Airblue airliner told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
Two zoo keepers near the crash site sold Xinhua that they saw the plane taking a very low flight brushing the trees on the ground and the pilots were trying desperately to take the nose up but failed.
Shortly after the incident happened, a large number of rescue teams have been dispatched to the crash site. A total of seven military helicopters have been dispatched to join the rescue work. All the hospitals in Pakistan's capital Islamabad have declared emergency.
Sources at the crash site informed Xinhua that the chance for the survival of the people aboard is very slim and local residents in the Margalla Hills also joined the military and police in the rescue work.
The Pakistani prime minister has ordered the military to conduct an investigation into the accident immediately.
The plane, whose flight number is not known yet, took off from the Karachi International Airport at about 7:50 am this morning. It was reported that the plane lost contact with the control tower of the Islamabad airport at about 9:43 am (local time) before the crash.
Large crowds of relatives and friends planned to receive their loved ones taking the flight at the Islamabad airport were shocked upon hearing the news and were eager to know the fate of them.
So far the reason for the crash is not known yet. The black box of the plane has not been found. It could be related to bad weather as it was raining heavily in Islamabad when the plane crashed. Many flights coming into Islamabad have been canceled due to bad weather.
The possibility of terrorism can not be ruled out as the terrorist groups in Pakistan have repeatedly threatened to blow up airplanes during the last month or so.