- Title: Pakistani rescuers begin recovery operation after the plane crash
- Date: 7th December 2016
- Summary: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN (DECEMBER 7, 2016) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) WRECKAGE FROM PLANE ON FIRE VARIOUS OF WRECKAGE ON GROUND CLOTHES AND OTHER BELONGINGS STREWN ON GROUND VARIOUS OF RESCUE PERSONNEL WORKING WRECKAGE OF PLANE LOCAL RESIDENTS AND ARMY PERSONNEL WORKING ARMY PERSONNEL SEARCHING FOR REMAINS OF VICTIMS RESCUE PERSONNEL HOLDING BLACK BOX BLACK BOX HAND OF ARMY PERSON HOLDING BLACK BOX RESCUE AND ARMY PERSONNEL CARRYING OUT RECOVERY OPERATION VARIOUS OF WRECKAGE "PAKISTAN" WRITTEN ON WRECKAGE OF PLANE IN URDU RESCUE AND ARMY PERSONNEL CARRYING OUT RECOVERY OPERATION HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN (DECEMBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) AMBULANCES ARMY PERSONNEL AND LOCAL RESIDENTS MOVING REMAINS OF VICTIMS ARMY PERSONNEL AND LOCALS MOVING BODY TO AMBULANCE
- Embargoed: 22nd December 2016 21:34
- Keywords: crash Havelian Pakistan Pakistan International Airlines PK661
- Location: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN
- City: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BW06DJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Recovery operations continued late into the night at the remote site where a plane carrying 47 people crashed into a mountain in northern Pakistan on Wednesday (December 7), leaving no survivors, the airline's chairman said.
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 Center in nearby Abbottabad, about 20km (12 miles) away.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)-operated flight PK661 crashed en route from Chitral to the capital, Islamabad.
Junaid Jamshed, a well-known Pakistani pop star turned evangelical Muslim cleric, was among those feared dead, an airline official said.
PIA said the captain of the flight had reported losing power in one engine minutes before its plane lost contact with the control tower en route to the capital.
The airline said the plane crashed at 4:42 pm local time (1142 GMT) in the Havelian area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, about 40km (25 miles) north of Islamabad. Chitral, where the flight originated, is a popular tourist destination in Pakistan.
Irfan Elahi, the government's aviation secretary, told media the plane suffered engine problems but it was too early to determine the cause of the accident.
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. They worked for for Austrian engineering group on a hydropower project in the north of the country, a spokesman for the company said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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