mangalore today

Pakistan flight with 99 on board crashes in Karachi minute before landing


www.mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, May 22, 2020: A Pakistan International Airlines flight from Lahore, with 91 passengers and eight crew on board, crashed near the Karachi airport, just a minute before the Airbus A320 was to land this afternoon. There are no reports on the number of casualties yet.


Pakistan Airlines crash


The PIA flight PK-8303 went down in what looks like a densely populated residential area - Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir - just short of the Jinnah International Airport. The crash comes just days after Pakistan began allowing commercial flights to resume after planes were grounded due to the lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

The wreckage and several houses in the area are on fire, visuals by Pakistan media showed. Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing in the sky as ambulances tried to make their way through.

25 residents of the area, injured in the crash, have been reportedly taken to hospitals. An emergency has been declared in all major hospitals of Karachi.

News agency PTI quoted sources in Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority as saying that communication with the plane was cut off one minute before its landing.

Pakistan media reported that Pak Army Quick Reaction Force and Pakistan Rangers are at the crash site to assist in relief and rescue efforts, which have been hindered due to the presence of a large crowd and narrow lanes.