Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Crash carnage 100 dead as plane smashes into Pakistan’s biggest city
UP to 100 people are feared to have been killed when a plane crashed into homes in Pakistan’s biggest city.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK 8303 plunged from the sky as it prepared to land at Karachi Jinnah airport yesterday.
Footage from the scene showed thick smoke rising from the Model Colony area, where dozens of people were thought to be trapped underneath collapsed roofs.
As firefighters doused the crash site, a baby was miraculously pulled from the wreckage and carried to safety.
But despite a huge search operation, only two of the 91 passengers were thought to have survived, with all eight crew feared dead.
PIA chief executive Arshad Malik said the pilot had told air traffic control the Airbus A320 was having “technical difficulties” as he made his descent.
In a recording obtained by a local TV channel, the pilot can be heard saying the plane, which had flown from Lahore, had “lost two engines”.
Seconds later, in a final desperate message, he cried: “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday”.
The plane then veered off its course as he lost control.
Witness Mohammed Uzair Khan said: “I can’t tell you what a horrible thing it was. Almost four houses were completely collapsed, there was so much fire and smoke.”
Crowds gathered near the scene of the tragedy – in one of the poorest parts of Karachi – as smoke filled the streets.
The city is home to almost 15 million people.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, said he was “shocked and saddened” by the crash and promised an inquiry.
The crash comes just days after the country allowed commercial flights to resume after a coronavirus lockdown.
It is another grim entry in the country’s chequered aviation safety record.
In 2010, a plane operated by private airline Airblue crashed near Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board.
Two years later, a Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 crashed near to Rawalpindi, killing all 121 passengers and six crew members.
And in 2016, a PIA domestic flight came down, claiming 47 lives.