Pakistani Plane Crashes with Over 40 Passengers

A passenger plane belonging to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crashed in the north of the country with over 40 passengers on board. According to Reuters, citing a government official, the PIA aircraft was flying from Chitral in northern Pakistan to Islamabad, the capital, when the pilot lost radio contact with the control tower over Havelian, located 152 kilometers from Islamabad, and the plane disappeared from radar. Taj Mahmood Khan, a government official, told Reuters that all bodies have been burned and dismembered. The official stated that the plane crashed in a mountainous area and caught fire before hitting the ground. Images broadcast on Pakistani television and social media show flames from the plane crash and its burning on the slopes of a mountain. Officials from Pakistan's aviation authority have reported that 47 people were killed in the crash, although a board member of Pakistan International Airlines stated that the number of victims was 41. Junaid Jamshed, a well-known Pakistani pop music star who had recently become a religious preacher, was among the passengers on the plane. Plane crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan, and for several years, the country's low flight safety standards have been criticized by aviation experts. In 2010, a passenger plane crashed near Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board. Two years later, a plane belonging to a private Pakistani airline crashed, resulting in 127 fatalities.