Passenger plane crashes in hills near Pakistan capital
Breaking News: 28/7/2010Pakistani TV showed smoke rising from the scene of the crash
A plane has crashed in hills north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
Police said it was an Airblue flight to Islamabad via Karachi, with more than 150 people on board.
It crashed in the Margalla Hills to the north of the city, and Pakistani television showed images of foggy, rainy hillside with helicopters flying overhead.
A huge rescue effort has been launched.
"There is smoke, but we have not been able to reach there. It is surrounded by the hills and there is no road access," police official Sayed Subhan told the AFP news agency.
"There were 146 passengers and six crewmen on board. We are gathering information. We have no more details," Mubarik Shah, spokesman of the state-run Civil Aviation Authority, told the Reuters news agency.
The plane is thought to have left Karachi at 0750, and officials said it lost contact with the control tower minutes before landing.
Skies in Islamabad have been heavily overcast during the last couple of days.
A heavy fog envelops the heavily forested Margalla Hills this morning and it has been raining for several hours. Initial reports said the flight originated in Turkey, but this has not been confirmed.
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