A Pakistani passenger airline has crashed in the southern city of Karachi, while attempting to make a landing.
The doomed airplane took off on Friday from the city of Lahore and was heading towards Karachi, when suddenly a final mayday call was made by the pilot.
Pakistani officials have reported that only two survivors had been pulled alive, fearing the death toll to rise significantly.
Although rescue operations were still underway, the exact figures cannot be confirmed. One of the survivors is a prominent director of the Bank of Punjab, Mr. Zafar Masood. Rescue officials were seen dragging him away from the intensely smoky rubble of the flight.
The pilot of the ill-fated airline signaled the control towers for help, after which it was given clearance to land on the runway.
A voice recording released by Pakistani media officials showed the pilot claiming that he had lost control of one of the engines. Minutes later, tragic reports started coming in, claiming the plane had crashed into a residential locality known as Model Colony.
With 108 passengers and crew members on board, eyewitnesses state the flight made a rather abrupt crash landing. The aircraft came down into a residential neighborhood, falling into and destroying 3 houses.
Rescue operations began immediately as relevant officials, including the military, rushed to the crash scene.
Reports described how authorities faced difficulties in gaining access to the site, amidst the huge piles of rubble and giant fumes caused by the crash’s explosion. Videos and photographs surfaced on the media, showing flaming rubble and scattered debris as well as the plane’s wrecked door.
The Pakistan International Airways Airbus A320-214, the same airline that crashed, uses engines of the CFM56 variant. This is manufactured by the firm CFM International, which is a joint venture of US’s General Electric as well as France’s Safran.
Further investigations as to the crash’s exact cause is underway, claimed authorities.