John
07-28-2010, 10:07 PM
A Pakistani passenger plane crashed in heavy rain near Islamabad on Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board, in the worst aviation accident in Pakistan.
Two Americans were among the victims, a US embassy spokesman said. He had no further details.
"There are no survivors. We believe all are dead. We are recovering the remains of the dead bodies from the wreckage," said Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of the state-run Capital Development Authority, a city municipal body.
The Airbus 321, belonging to private airline Airblue, crashed into a heavily wooded and hard-to-access hillside while flying from the southern port city of Karachi. More than 90 bodies have been recovered so far, but the bad weather is making recovery efforts difficult.
"We have suspended the air operation because of rain. It will take a long time to clear the area. There's no way to transport bodies from the site except via helicopters and even helicopters cannot land there," said Aamir Ali Ahmed, senior city government official, said.
Rescuers said they had to dig through the rubble with their bare hands, with fire and thick smoke hampering their work. The fire has since been extinguished, but access to the hillside remained limited to pedestrians and helicopters.
Two Americans were among the victims, a US embassy spokesman said. He had no further details.
"There are no survivors. We believe all are dead. We are recovering the remains of the dead bodies from the wreckage," said Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of the state-run Capital Development Authority, a city municipal body.
The Airbus 321, belonging to private airline Airblue, crashed into a heavily wooded and hard-to-access hillside while flying from the southern port city of Karachi. More than 90 bodies have been recovered so far, but the bad weather is making recovery efforts difficult.
"We have suspended the air operation because of rain. It will take a long time to clear the area. There's no way to transport bodies from the site except via helicopters and even helicopters cannot land there," said Aamir Ali Ahmed, senior city government official, said.
Rescuers said they had to dig through the rubble with their bare hands, with fire and thick smoke hampering their work. The fire has since been extinguished, but access to the hillside remained limited to pedestrians and helicopters.