A plane carrying at least 99 people crashed in a residential area in Pakistan on Friday, leaving several people dead. Flight 8303, operated by Pakistan International Airlines, went down after 2:30 p.m. near the the airport in Karachi where it was headed from another city, Lahore.
Officials said at least 91 passengers and eight crew members were onboard. It’s not clear how many people died, but officials said at least two had survived with injuries.
The pilot of the Airbus A320 had told air traffic control he was having some technical difficulties before the crash, according to Marshal Arshad Malik, the chief executive of Pakistan International Airlines. Malik said the pilot had been told he could land, but instead decided to do a “go-around.”
It’s not clear what the exact difficulties were, but the airline has said they are investigating. A state of emergency has been declared in the city’s hospitals.
Mohammed Uzair Khan, who witnessed the crash, told the BBC he had heard a loud sound before going outside.
"Almost four houses were completely collapsed, there was so much fire and smoke," he told the outlet. "They are almost my neighbors, I can't tell you what a horrible thing it was."
The crash came just said after Pakistan lifted restrictions for domestic flights in the country due to the novel coronavirus. Many Pakistanis are currently traveling to their home towns in cities to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
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