Military plane crash claims 18 lives in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI : A military aircraft on a training flight crashed in a built-up area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi early on Tuesday, claiming lives of all five crew members and 13 civilians and setting off a blaze that left a pile of smoking rubble.

A statement from the Pakistani military said the aircraft was on a routine training flight when it crashed near Rabi Plaza but there was no immediate word on the cause of the accident or the type of aircraft involved.

Two pilots and three crew members of the plane were among the dead, whereas 16 others sustained critical wounds.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army personnel who died in the plane crash included Lt Col Saqib and Wasim, Naib Subedar Afzal, Hawaldar Ibne Amin and Rahmat.

Rescue sources informed that the civilians died in the plane crash included Jameel, Rubeena, Zuhaib, Pari, Fatima, Uzma, Bashir, Abdul Hafeez, Rahila, Faizan, Faiza, Abdur Rauf and Amna Bibi.

At least four to five houses were engulfed by fire after the plane crash.

“The plane hit the side of the building and the structure it has crashed into has completely collapsed,’ an army officer at the scene said.

The site, in a village on the edge of an affluent housing development called Bahia Town, was surrounded by military and rescue service vehicles and security officials pushed back a crowd of bystanders.

Funeral prayer for the martyred were held at Chaklaka Garrison where COAS Bajwa, service and retired officers along the family of martyred offered the prayer.