DEATH TOLL FROM PAKISTAN AIRLINER CRASH 97, 2 SURVIVORS

KARACHI: The death toll from Friday’s passenger aircraft crash in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi has been confirmed at 97 with two survivors, while no fatalities were reported from the dense residential neighbourhood where the aircraft crash-landed, authorities said on Saturday.

Pakistan International Airlines flight PK 8303, an Airbus A320, was flying from Lahore to Karachi with 99 people on board when it went down at about 2:45 p.m. while trying a second landing attempt.

“Final plane crash update: 66 bodies were brought to (Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre), 31 bodies were brought to Civil Hospital Karachi,” the provincial health minister’s media coordinator said in a communique, adding that there were no deaths confirmed on the ground. Rescue and debris clearing in the neighbourhood was still underway on Saturday.

Seconds before the crash, the pilot told air traffic controllers he had lost power from both engines, according to a recording posted on liveatc.net, a respected aviation monitoring website.

Airbus said the jet first flew in 2004 and was fitted with engines built by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and France’s Safran.

Pakistan’s prime minister announced soon after the crash that there would be an inquiry, and a four-member team was constituted

Friday night, according to a notification from the government’s aviation division. The team will issue a preliminary statement within a month, the notification says.

There was no official confirmation of the aircraft’s black box being found.