- Title: Investigators seek answers after deadly plane crash in Pakistan
- Date: 8th December 2016
- Summary: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN (DECEMBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) WRECKAGE OF PLANE LYING ON SIDE OF MOUNTAIN, PEOPLE LOOKING AT WRECKAGE ARMY PERSONNEL AND LOCAL VILLAGERS GATHERED NEAR CRASH SITE ARMY VEHICLE DRIVING DOWN DIRT PATH MOUNTAINOUS AREA WHERE PLANE CRASHED (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) VILLAGER FROM NEARBY VILLAGE, IRSHAD KHAN, SAYING: "I pay tribute to the pilot who saved all our villages here. He crashed the plane into a hill." VARIOUS OF ARMY PERSONNEL AND VILLAGERS GATHERED AT CRASH SITE, WHILE ARMY ENGINEERS SET UP EQUIPMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) VILLAGER FROM NEARBY VILLAGE, CHINGEZ KHAN, SAYING: "We recovered 46 bodies during the night. After the news spread, the youth of our area rushed here and participated in rescue and recovery work." ARMY VEHICLES PARKED VARIOUS OF ARMY ENGINEERS SETTING UP EQUIPMENT
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2016 06:23
- Keywords: airplane crash plane crash Pakistan residents rockstar Muslim evangelist accident investigators Havelian
- Location: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN
- City: HAVELIAN, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Reuters ID: LVA0015C0VRD1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING
Villagers and army personnel were still gathered on Thursday (December 8) morning at the site of Pakistan's deadliest plane crash in four years, as officials sought to pinpoint the cause of the disaster.
Flight PK661 smashed into the side of a mountain near the town of Havelian, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, late on Wednesday afternoon, killing 46 people.
Among them was a famed-rockstar-turned-Muslim evangelist, two infants and three foreigners. The foreigners included two Austrians and a Chinese man, the airline said.
Local villagers flocked to the scene to help with rescue and recovery work after the crash, some praising the pilot for missing nearby villages.
"I pay tribute to the pilot who saved all our villages here. He crashed the plane into a hill," said one villager, Irshad Khan.
The plane crashed just 50 km (31 miles) short of its destination, the international airport in Islamabad after taking off from the mountain resort of Chitral.
Engine trouble was initially believed responsible, but many questions remain, stirring new worries about the safety record of money-losing state carrier Pakistani International Airlines.
Concerns are growing over air safety as media in recent years have reported near-misses following overshot runways, engines catching fire and landing gear deployment failures.
In the worst such disaster, in 2010, all 152 people on board were killed when a passenger plane operated by airline Air Blue crashed in heavy rain near Islamabad.
Two years later, all 127 aboard were killed when a plane operated by Bhoja Air crashed near Islamabad. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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