Remains of 47 victims of plane crash to be sent to Islamabad

PIA says the plane lost contact with the control tower prior to the crash.

The passengers included Junaid Jamshed, a famous singer who had become an Islamic preacher, according to PIA.

“There are no survivors. All passengers and members of crew are dead,” Azam Sehgal, the PIA chariman told a news conference at the Islamabad airport late Wednesday. He said the plane’s black box recorder had been found.

Sehgal said the pilot of plane told the control tower that an engine had developed a technical fault. Moments later he made a “mayday call” shortly before the plane disappeared.

Sehgal said it was unclear what caused the crash.

TV footage at the site of the crash showed debris from the plane. The footage showed villagers collecting the remains of the passengers and covering their bodies with cloths.

Altaf Hussain, a rescue worker who transported the remains of passengers in an ambulance, told the AP that the crash site smelled of burned flesh and oil, and that body parts were scattered everywhere.

“We collected the burned bones … and wrapped them in cloth,” he said.

Ambulance driver Duray Hussain said the remains were “beyond recognition.”

Pakistan’s air industry had had a mixed record recently. About 150 people were killed in a crash near Islamabad in 2010, and last year a military helicopter carrying several diplomats also crashed in the country’s north, killing eight people. And a Bhoja Air flight passenger plane crashed near Islamabad due to bad weather in 2012, killing all 127 people on board.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Aqeel Ahmed in Mansehra, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Asif Shahzad And Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Remains of 47 victims of plane crash to be sent to Islamabad

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