Earlier in the day, the aircraft carrying 47 people departed from the city of Chitral and crashed en route to Islamabad near the city of Havelian.
Pakistan army said earlier that 40 bodies of victims had been recovered. According to Express News, two infants and nine women were also among the victims. Rescuers found one of two "black boxes" of the Pakistan International Airlines’ plane that crashed in Pakistan on Wednesday, local media reported. The discovery was confirmed by the airline company, the Geo TV broadcaster reported. There is still no information about the technical condition of the "black box". The crash may have been caused by the engine failure. "PIA flight 661, an ATR carrying over 45 people crashed into a hilly terrain in Pakistan’s North around 16:30. There is no news of any survivors. Pilot’s mayday call said that left engine was on fire and switching off the engine was last heard. ATR with one engine switched off can barely maintain level flight. If the good engine produces less thrust the problem gets amplified. It seems the aircraft kept descending and went into the hill. Unfortunately the pilot could not do anything. The actual cause will be however determined by Investigation Team," Ex Air Force and Aviation Pilot, Group Captain, Khalid Mehmood told Sputnik.
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