At least, one survivor is said to have survived a Pakistan International Airlines flight that crashed while attempting to land at Karachi Airport with 107 people onboard.
The Mayor of Karachi, at the scene of the plane crash, had eaelier said none of the 107 passengers and crew survived.
But in a miraculous turnaround, at least one passenger was found to have survived the Pakistani airliner that went down on Friday in a residential area of Karachi, a government official said.
A follow up report revealed that apart from the bank manager, at least one other passenger has been pulled alive from the wreckage of Airbus A320 which crashed after an engine failure, killing more than 100 people.
It was like a big miracle when Bank of Punjab president, Zafar Mahmood, was dragged from the smoking debris of the Pakistan International Airlines flight.
Pakistani officials said two people had survived the crash while local TV said there were three survivors who had sat at the front of the plane, but at least 105 passengers and crew have been killed.
Witnesses said the flight from Lahore had made three failed attempts to land at Jinnah International Airport before ploughing into the Model Colony area of the city on a fourth landing attempt.
The pilot told air traffic control that he had lost both of his engines and a recording has emerged of the captain making a final mayday call before the crash.
The Airbus A320-214 model uses a CFM56 engine made by CFM International, a joint venture between US-based General Electric and France’s Safran.
Videos uploaded on social media purport to show the plane’s final moments as it hurls downwards at alarming speed amid the shrieks of terrified residents. Witnesses say the plane was so low they felt the walls of their houses tremble and saw the plane tilted on one side.
Plumes of billowing smoke smothered the skyline after the Pakistan International Airlines plane smashed into house among the poor and densely populated area of Model Colony that is two miles from the airport.
Footage showed scenes of chaos with burning rubble and plane debris strewn across the area as hospitals ready themselves for a flurry of victims and the Pakistani Army desperately hunts for survivors. The Prime Minister has pledged to hold an ‘immediate inquiry’ into the crash.
The Airbus had been flying from Lahore to Jinnah, which usually takes 90 minutes, before it went down in the Model Colony area as it began its final approach to land at Karachi airport.
