- Title: No survivors after the plane crash - airline
- Date: 7th December 2016
- Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (DECEMBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) VEHICLES LINED UP TO ENTER GATES OF ISLAMABAD'S BENAZIR BHUTTO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SIGNBOARD OF BENAZIR BHUTTO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WOMEN SEATED INSIDE CAR VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS LOOKING AT NEWS ON TV SCREENS INSIDE TERMINAL CHAIRMAN OF PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES (PIA), MUHAMMAD AZAM SAIGOL, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) CHAIRMAN PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES (PIA), MUHAMMAD AZAM SAIGOL, SAYING: "There is no survivors, no one has survived. All passengers, and the entire crew have been killed." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) CHAIRMAN PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES (PIA), MUHAMMAD AZAM SAIGOL, SAYING: "Around 4:00 pm PST (1100 GMT), the control tower received a message that one engine of the plane had become 'dead', had failed. After a few minutes, May Day calls started coming from the same airplane. And within seconds, the plane disappeared from the radar, and at around 4:15 pm PST (11:15 gmt) or 4:20pm PST (11:20 gmt) we got information that there had been a sighting, that smoke had been seen on the mountains." REPORTERS TAKING NOTES ON CELL PHONES (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) CHAIRMAN PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES (PIA), MUHAMMAD AZAM SAIGOL, SAYING: "We hope that by tomorrow, God willing, all the dead bodies will be brought to Islamabad by army helicopters. Right now our focus is on getting the dead bodies to Islamabad, and handing them over to their families." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 22nd December 2016 22:20
- Keywords: Pakistan crash aircraft PIA briefing
- Location: ISLAMABAD , PAKISTAN
- City: ISLAMABAD , PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BVZGAV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: There were no survivors after a plane carrying 47 people crashed into a mountain in northern Pakistan on Wednesday (December 7), the airline's chairman said as recovery operations continued late into the night at the remote crash site.
The military said 40 bodies had been recovered and rescue efforts involved about 500 soldiers, doctors and paramedics. The bodies were shifted to the Ayub Medical Centre in nearby Abbottabad, about 20km (12 miles) away.
"There is no survivors, no one has survived. All passengers, and the entire crew have been killed," Muhammad Azam Saigol, the chairman for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) told a hurriedly-called news conference at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
PIA-operated flight PK661 crashed en route from Chitral to the capital, Islamabad.
Saigol said the airplane crashed shortly after informing the control tower that one of its engines had failed.
The airline said the ATR turboprop aircraft has undergone regular maintenance and in October passed an "A-check" maintenance certification, performed after every 500 flight hours.
Saigol said a full investigation of the crash, involving international agencies, would be conducted.
In a late night statement, PIA said the plane was carrying 47 people, including five crew members and 42 passengers. Earlier, the airline had said there were 48 people on board.
The airline said two Austrian citizens and one Chinese citizen, all men, had been on board. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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