Passenger plane crashes near Islamabad with 127 onboard: police

GEO News reported that 127 passengers were onboard the aircraft at the time of the crash.


The plane had flown from Karachi, and was due to land in Islamabad at 6:40pm local time.


Rescue teams were en route to the crash site, located near the Pakistan Air Force base Chaklala.


The Bhoja airline flight from Karachi came down outside Islamabad airport, police official Fazle Akbar told AFP, adding that emergency teams were on their way to the site. "It was not immediately clear how many people were on board. We have sent teams to get details," Akbar said. Plane crashes are relatively rare in Pakistan, where inter-city travel is most efficient by air. 

In July 2010, an Airbus 321 passenger jet operated by the private airline Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi, killing 152 people on board.