Plane Crashes In Pakistan, Killing All On Board

A passenger plane in Pakistan crashed early Monday while on a domestic flight, killing all 45 people on board.

The Pakistan International Airlines craft, a Fokker F-27 twin-engine, crashed into a wheat field near the city of Multan a few minutes after takeoff. Witnesses recalled seeing it spiral in the air before it went down.

“All 41 passengers and four crew members on board the plane have died,” said Iftikhar Babar, the district co-ordination officer for Multan, located about 650 km southwest of the capital, Islamabad.

Flight PK-688 was destined for Lahore, taking off at about 12:05pm. The cause of the crash isn’t known yet, but terrorism has reportedly been ruled out. All the victims – 33 men and 8 women – were Pakistani.

“The plane began to come down abruptly. Then it hit the ground. Then there were flames and dust,” described witness Arshad Gujjar, 35. Debris littered the ground about three kilometres away from the airport. All that was left was a blackened section of fuselage and a charred tail.

Mohammed Nadeeem, who lives near the crash site, said the plane was rotating sideways in the air before it went down.

“There was a huge explosion after the plane hit the ground,” he said.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf ordered an investigation into the crash and expressed grief for all those who lost their lives and their family members.

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