All 48 people on board Pakistan plane die in crash

Pakistan International Airlines said the plane came down near the northern city of Abbottabad and confirmed that Pakistan celebrity Junaid Jamshed and his wife were on board the plane.

Pakistani officials of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) look at the wreckages of crashed PIA passenger plane Flight PK661 at the site in the village of Saddha Batolni in the Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on December 7, 2016.
TRT World and Agencies

Pakistani officials of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) look at the wreckages of crashed PIA passenger plane Flight PK661 at the site in the village of Saddha Batolni in the Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on December 7, 2016.

A domestic flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with 48 passengers and crew on board crashed on Wednesday en route to Islamabad from the northern city of Chitral, officials said.

All 48 died after the plane burst into flames after it crashed in the country's mountainous northern region, officials confirmed.

"No one survived," said Danyal Gilani, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines.

The Pakistan military say they have already recovered 36 bodies from the scene and rescue teams are trying to find the rest over a very large area.

"All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered," Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region, told Reuters.

Laiq Shah, a senior police official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, said flight PK 661 crashed near the town of Havelian, Abbottabad.

Pop star turned Islamic preacher Junaid Jamshed, his wife and Chitral city Deputy Commissioner Osama Warraich were on board the flight, DawnNews said, quoting Chitral airport sources.

According to local reports, Jamshed had been in Chitral preaching for 10 days.

Jamshed rocketed to fame in Pakistan in the 1980s as the singer for the Vital Signs rock group.

He later launched a solo career, with a string of chart-topping albums and hits.

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