Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
At least 18 people were killed and several injured when a small military plane crashed into a residential area near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.
Five crew members and 13 civilians were among the dead, rescue services said.
The aircraft was on a training flight when it crashed and set off a fire across several homes. One witness said the plane was ablaze before the crash.
The King Air 350 turboprop reportedly took a steep turn near its destination airport before coming down.
Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, is the site of the Pakistani army’s headquarters, and the plane belonged to the Pakistani Army’s aviation unit.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan offered his condolences and wished a “quick recovery for the injured”, according to a tweet sent by the Pakistani government.
Pictures from the scene showed blackened buildings that had been reduced to rubble. A reporter from the AFP news agency said smoke was still rising from the wreckage and pieces of the plane were visible on a nearby roof.
Several injured were rushed to the hospital, Pakistan’s emergency rescue services said. The bodies of the dead were taken away to be identified.
Pakistan has a chequered aviation safety record, including a number of airliner crashes.
