PIA plane crashes, all 45 dead

Islamabad: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane crashed on the outskirts of the central city of Multan on Monday, killing all 45 people on board, the local police chief said. "Everyone is dead. I am standing at the site," police chief Iftikhar Babar.

Flight PK 688, en route for Lahore before flying on to Islamabad, crashed three minutes after take-off from Multan airport, said Hasan Jaffery, a PIA spokesman.

The Fokker plane was carrying 41 passengers and four crew. "Bodies are badly charred. The debris has caught fire," a witness said. He said rescue workers from the privately run relief foundation Edhi, the Civil Aviation Authority and the army were taking part in the rescue operation.

"There are few bodies which are identifiable," said Shahid Pervez, a civil defence official, as rescue workers loaded the corpses into ambulances.

The plane, laden with fuel, burst into flames after crashing near a state primary school, around three km from the airport. Police chief Babar quoted some witnesses as saying they saw flames coming from the aircraft shortly after it took off, and it appeared to be tilting to the right.

"I saw the plane diving downwards. It hit electricity wires and then crashed after hitting a wall of an orchard," said Mohammad Akram, a farmer who was working his fields. He said the plane burst into flames after impact.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz both expressed grief over the crash, according to state-run Pakistan Television. Aziz also ordered an inquiry.

Senior ranking members of the military and judiciary were among the passengers, according to officials in Multan.

In February, 2003, a Fokker F-27 turboprop crashed in northwestern Pakistan killing Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife and 15 others.

Jaffery said PIA was still gathering information to help find out why the plane crashed. PIA has seven other Fokkers in its fleet. The aircraft that crashed was bought four decades ago.

Airworthiness certificates for aircraft are issued following pre-flight checks. Late last year, PIA ordered seven new ATR42-500 planes from French company Avions de Transport Regional to replace its Fokkers.