A Pakistani plane carrying up to 47 passengers has "disappeared," an airline spokesman has said.

At least 36 bodies have been recovered after a Pakistan International Airlines plane crash, Sputnik reported.

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20:14

Pakistan`s army has recovered 21 bodies from the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines plane which crashed in a mountainous northern region Dec. 7, the country`s military said, Reuters reports.

"Rescue effort continues. 21 bodies recovered so far," the military`s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said in a short statement.

Witnesses from the crash site in the Havelian area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 125 km north of Islamabad, said there were unlikely to be any survivors.

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17:03

There are unlikely to be any survivors from a Pakistani plane carrying up to 47 passengers that crashed near Abottabad, a government official has said.

Pakistan International Airlines` (PIA) passenger plane PK 116 was on its way to Islamabad from the northern city of Chitral.

The Pakistani pop star turned evangelical cleric Junaid Jamshed was on the plane when it crashed, local media reports.



"All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered," Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region, told Reuters.

Mr Khan, who was at the site of the crash, added that witnesses told him "the aircraft has crashed in a mountainous area, and before it hit the ground it was on fire".

Laiq Shah, a senior police official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province told Reuters by telephone the plane had crashed in that region, near the town of Havelian.

He said ground rescue teams were en route to the crash site. The army said it dispatched troops and helicopters to the location.

There were no immediate details on casualties but Pakistan`s interior ministry dispatched a team with experts on identifying bodies through DNA tests.

16:55

Pakistan International Airlines` (PIA) passenger plane PK 116 was on its way to Islamabad from the northern city of Chitral.

The Pakistani singer and religious preacher Junaid Jamshed was on the plane when it crashed, Dawn News reports.

The national flag carrier confirmed in a statement the plane had lost contact with air traffic controllers on Wednesday afternoon.

"PIA`s ATR-42 aircraft operating as PK-661, carrying around 40 persons lost its contact with the control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad a short while ago," PIA spokesman Daniyal Gilani tweeted.



"All resources are being mobilised to locate the aircraft."

Initial reports said there were 37 passengers on the plane, however reports from Geo News and Dawn News channels both reported 47 people were on board the missing aircraft.

16:08

Geo News, citing civil aviation sources, said the plane lost contact with civil aviation authority at around 4.30pm (11.30 GMT).

Laiq Shah, a senior police official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province told Reuters by telephone the plane had crashed in that region, near the town of Havelian.

He said Ground rescue teams were en route to the crash site.

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