Black box of crashed plane in Islamabad, Pakistan found

Smoke rises from the site a jetliner crashed near Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, July 28, 2010. An Airblue jetliner 152 people including six crew members onboard crashed near Pakistan's capital Islamabad Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Zeeshan iyazi)

The black box of the plane which crashed in the northeast part of the Pakistani capital Islamabad Wednesday morning has been found and is being decoded by the Pakistani air forces, reported local media.

At about 10:00 am local time Wednesday morning, an airbus 320 with flight number ED-202 carrying 152 people including six crew members crashed in the Margalla Hills lying to the northeast part of Islamabad minutes before it was supposed to land at the capital 's airport.

The plane, which belonged to a local private airliner named Airblue, was on its way from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi. It took off from the Karachi International Airport at about 7:50 am local time Wednesday morning.

The plane lost the contact with the control tower of the Islamabad airport at about 9:43 am local time before the crash. Before the crash, the control tower of the Islamabad airport has reportedly given the approval for the plane to land at the airport.

Among all the people aboard, there were reportedly 20 women and five children.

So far 40 people have been confirmed dead in the crash, according to a senior official with the Capital Development Authority, the de-fact municipal government of the Islamabad city which is charge of the rescue work.

Among the dead bodies recovered from the site which is still on fire and surrounded by smoke, the dead body of the pilot has been identified.

No foreigners have been found on the passenger name list released shortly after the plane crash, sources told Xinhua after talking on the telephone to the Airblue airliner which the crashed plane belonged to.

The Chinese Embassy to Pakistan told Xinhua that no Chinese citizens were aboard the plane after it had confirmed with the Pakistani Interior Ministry.

Hundreds of people including troops, police, firemen, doctors and local residents are fighting the rains and difficult terrains in the Margalla Hills where the plane crashed to join the research and rescue operation.


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