No survivors after Pakistani jumbo jet flies into hillside, killing 152

ALL 152 people aboard a Pakistani airliner were killed yesterday when their plane crashed into cloud covered hills outside the capital Islamabad, the worst crash in the country's domestic aviation history.

The Airbus 321, belonging to a private airline crashed into a heavily wooded and hard-to-access hillside while flying from the southern port city of Karachi.

Officials said bad weather was most likely to blame for bringing down the Airblue flight.

Rescuers who dug through the wreckage with their bare hands said all they could do was retrieve charred body parts.

Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of the Capital Development Authority, which co-ordinates emergency efforts, said: "There are no survivors. We believe all are dead. We are recovering the remains of the dead bodies from the wreckage."

Experienced pilots say Islamabad is a tricky destination. The Margalla Hills to the north and unpredictable weather patterns make landing awkward even in good weather.

Yesterday's monsoon rains and misty conditions over the hills meant an earlier flight was diverted to Lahore and services elsewhere in the country had been disrupted.

Some reports suggested the Airbus had been redirected because of the weather but may then have strayed off course.

Witnesses said they watched the plane struggle on its final approach.

"I wondered why the plane wasn't flying higher as it was flying towards the hill," said Anjum Rahman, a reporter with a TV news channel who saw the plane from the window of her home. "Then within three or four minutes I heard a loud explosion."

The plane caught fire as it crashed into the densely wooded hillside, scattering debris over a wide area.

A plume of smoke rose into the air, drawing a crowd of spectators at the edge of the city several hundred metres below.

Some made their way up the muddy slopes to help rescuers in their grim task.

"You find very few intact bodies. Basically, we are collecting body parts and putting them in bags," said Bin Yameen, a police officer.

Twisted metal wreckage hung from trees and lay scattered across the ground on a bed of broken branches.

Rescue workers collected body parts to be loaded into bags slung beneath helicopters which were unable to land on steep hillside. By nightfall they had collected more than 115 bodies.

Officials initially said five people had survived. TV stations then said more than 40 people had walked away from the crash, sending a surge of relatives and friends to Islamabad's main hospitals and the airport.

Crowds rushed to greet ambulances as they began arriving one by one at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Huma Shahid said she was waiting for news of a cousin who was returning from Karachi. "We came because we heard there were survivors - first five, then 45," she said.

"But so far nothing. People are getting angry," she said.

Gradually it became clear that the ambulances were carrying bodies not survivors.

Raheel Ahmed, a spokesman for the airline, said an investigation would be launched into the cause of the crash. The ten-year-old plane had no known technical issues, and the pilots did not send any emergency signals, Ahmed said.