Plane crash kills 127 near Islamabad

All 127 people on board a Boeing Co 737-200 were killed when the plane operated by Pakistan’s Bhoja Air crashed near Islamabad, in the nation’s worst air disaster in almost two years.

The plane with 118 passengers and nine crew members was on its way from Karachi, Bhoja Air spokesman Salman Tahir said. It crashed near the capital in poor weather conditions, GEO TV said citing aviation ministry officials it didn’t identify.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari ordered a probe into the accident, according to a statement from his office. Air traffic control lost contact with the plane at 6:40 pm local time, GEO TV reported. Parts of the fuselage, a door and at least one body of a woman facedown and dressed in a full body veil were shown in GEO TV footage aired by CNN.

 

Bhoja Air, based in Karachi, started operations in November 1993 by leasing a Boeing 737-200 plane and connecting cities including Lahore and Quetta, according to its website. It is the second-biggest private carrier in the country, spokesman Tahir said.

In July 2010, an Airbus SAS jetliner crashed into a rain- soaked hillside at Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board in the nation’s deadliest air disaster. Two other accidents in the same year killed 33, according to AviationSafety Network’s website.