Islamabad, Pakistan: At least 54 people have been killed, with dozens more feared dead, after an Airbus A320 passenger airliner crashed into a residential neighbourhood while on approach to the airport in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials say.
At least two passengers of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-8303 from the eastern city of Lahore to Karachi survived the crash on Friday, a health ministry spokesperson told media. A third passenger’s survival from the crash was confirmed to media by a relative.
Reports on the number of people on board the aircraft at the time of the crash varied between 91 and 99.
“We have received 54 bodies so far,” said Meeran Yousuf by telephone. “We have only been able to identify three of the bodies so far, due to the extreme burns.”
At least six people who were on the ground when the airliner crashed into houses in the densely populated Model Colony area of Karachi, adjacent to the city’s international airport, were being treated for their injuries, she said.
