Rescue Work of Crashed Plane Suspended

Smoke rises from the site a jetliner crashed near Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, July 28, 2010. An Airblue jetliner 152 people including six crew members onboard crashed near Pakistan's capital Islamabad Wednesday morning. [Photo: Xinhua]

152 Confirmed Dead in Plane Crash

Black Box of Crashed Plane in Pakistan to Be Sent to U.S. for Decoding

The rescue work of a crashed plane in the Margalla hills in the Pakistani capital Islamabad Wednesday morning has been suspended due to the heavy rains, reported local media.

Prior to this, more than 100 bodies have reportedly been recovered from the crash site.

At about 10:00 am (local time) this morning, an airbus 320 with flight number ED-202 carrying 147 people including six crew members crashed in the Margalla Hills lying to the northeast part of Islamabad minutes before it was supposed to land at the capital 's airport.

Earlier reports say that there were 159 people aboard the plane, but 12 out of them, who planned to travel on this flight, did not turn up.

The plane, which belonged to a local private airliner named Airblue, was on its way from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi. It took off from the Karachi International Airport at about 7:50 am local time Wednesday morning.

The plane lost the contact with the control tower of the Islamabad airport at about 9:43 am local time before the crash. Before the crash, the control tower of the Islamabad airport has reportedly given the approval for the plane to land at the airport.

Among all the people aboard, there were reportedly 20 women and five children.

No foreigners have been found on the passenger name list released shortly after the plane crash, sources told Xinhua after talking on the telephone to the Airblue airliner which the crashed plane belonged to.

The Chinese Embassy to Pakistan told Xinhua that no Chinese citizens were aboard the plane after it had confirmed with the Pakistani Interior Ministry.

Hundreds of people including troops, police, firemen, doctors and local residents are fighting the rains and difficult terrains in the Margalla Hills where the plane crashed to join the research and rescue operation.

A whole battalion of troops in addition to seven military helicopters are involved in the rescue work.

Two zoo keepers who happened to be nearby the site where the plane crashed told Xinhua that they saw the plane taking very low flight brushing the trees on the ground and the pilots were trying desperately to take the nose up but failed. The landing gears of the plane were put on before it crashed, they said.

The Pakistani prime minister has ordered the military to conduct an investigation into the accident immediately following the tragedy. At a later stage, the government announced one-day mourning for the victims in the plane crash.

So far the reason for the crash is not known yet despite the fact that the black box of the plane has been found. It could be related to bad weather as it was raining heavily in Islamabad when the plane crashed. Many flights coming into Islamabad have reportedly been canceled due to bad weather.

The possibility of terrorism can not be ruled out as the terrorist groups in Pakistan have repeatedly threatened to blow up airplanes during the last month or so.

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