PAKISTAN: Relatives gather at Karachi airport after airliner carrying over 100 people crashes near Islamabad airport

Record ID: 382870

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Relatives gather at Karachi airport after airliner carrying over 100 people crashes near Islamabad airport
  • Date: 21st April 2012
  • Summary: KARACHI, PAKISTAN (APRIL 20, 2012) (REUTERS) RELATIVES OF PASSENGERS STANDING IN AIRPORT LOBBY RELATIVES WITH ONE MAN WHOSE WIFE WAS ABOARD PLANE
  • Embargoed: 6th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Disasters,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA9FUFKNW7DB3W21NOM2VCL4CED
  • Story Text: Relatives of those on board a Pakistani civilian airliner which crashed in bad weather, near Islamabad's international airport, gathered at Karachi on Friday (April 20) awaiting news.
    The aircraft, operated by local carrier Bhoja Air, was travelling from Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub Karachi to the capital Islamabad when it crashed about five nautical miles from the airport, said civil aviation official, Pervez George, without mentioning casualties.
    Grieving relatives were desperately looking for information about their loved one at Karachi airport.
    "My brother's wife was aboard this plane, she was heading for Islamabad. My bother had a flight for Dubai which he cancelled because of this accident. May Allah send all the victims to heaven. We are just helpless," said a relative, Naveed Ahmad.
    Television channels showed rescuers searching for survivors at the crash site, where charred parts of the aircraft scattered in what appeared to be a residential area.
    The airline's spokesman, Jaser Abro, said 116 passengers were on board and up to six crew.
    State television reported that all hospitals in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi had been put on high alert after the crash.
    The last major aviation accident in Pakistan occurred in July 2010, when a commercial airliner operated by AirBlue with 152 people on board crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad.
    In 2006, a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed near the central city of Multan, killing 45 people.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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