Pakistan army plane crashes into residential area near Rawalpindi; several killed, injured

A Pakistan army plane on Tuesday rammed into a residential area in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad killing as many as fifteen people. Informing about the incident a rescue official told media early on Tuesday that the mishap occurred after a plane of Pakistan army crashed into a residential area. He also informed that among the 15, 10 were civilians and  five others were crew members.

"A small plane crashed into a residential area. So far we have retrieved 15 dead bodies, including 10 civilians and five crew members," rescue spokesman Farooq Butt said, adding that a further 12 people had been injured. The plane hit a residential area in Rawalpindi's village named Mora Kalu.

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The smouldering, blackened wreckage of the plane, its tail fin bearing army markings, could be seen alongside two small buildings as rescue workers and military personnel cordoned off the area. While the rescue staffs say that the plane lost control with the tower, the real reason for the incident is not known till the time of writing the article. Media reports said that Pakistan army has not yet given any details about the incident. Videos posted by people from the village show black smoke rising from the blazing flight creating ruckus and chaos. Rescue operation is going on. 

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In Picture: Rescue operation underway at the site of accident (Picture from twitter)

Meanwhile, District commissioner Rawalpindi Ali Randhawa told the media that the incident occurred between 2:30 to 2:40 am when a small military plane which was on a training mission crashed in Rawalpindi.The dead and injured were shifted to various hospitals of Rawalpindi, where paramedics said most of the victims were badly burnt.

AIR TRAGEDY IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan has a poor air safety track record, with plane and helicopter crashes occurring frequently over the years.

• In 2016, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying 48 people, including famous pop singer-turned-Islamic preacher Junaid Jamshed, his wife and Deputy Commissioner Chitral Osama Warraich, crashed and burst into flames in a hilly area near Abbottabad after facing engine problems.
   
• In 2012, a Bhoja Airline plane, a Boeing 737 carrying 121 passengers and six crew members, crashed near Islamabad just just before touchdown.
   
• The worst aviation tragedy on Pakistani soil came in July 2010 when an Airbus 321 passenger jet operated by the private airline Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad. The flight was coming from Karachi. All 152 people on board were killed in the accident, which occurred amid heavy rain and poor visibility.
   
• Another deadly civilian plane crash involving a Pakistani jet occurred in 1992 when a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on its approach to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, killing 167 people.

(with PTI inputs)

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