Karachi residents watch smoke from plane crash

A passenger plane carrying 107 passengers and crew belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines crashed near the southern port city of Karachi on Friday, a civil aviation official said.

The Mayor of Karachi at scene says none of the 107 passengers or crew survived.

The aircraft arriving from the eastern city of Lahore was carrying 99 passengers and eight crew members, said a spokesman for the country's civil aviation authority.

Witnesses said the Airbus A320 appeared to attempt to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near Jinnah International Airport. The residential area on the edge of the airport known as Model Colony is a poor area and heavily congested.

A resident of the area said he saw the aircraft circle at least three times, appearing to try to land before it crashed into several houses.

Police and military cordoned off the area.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted: “Shocked & saddened by the PIA crash. . . Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased."

Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the crash. The flight typically takes an hour and a half from the northeastern city of Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, to Karachi.