Pakistan: 17 Killed As Military Plane Crashes Into Buildings In Rawalpindi

A Pakistani military aircraft on a training flight crashed in a built-up area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi early on Tuesday, killing all five crew members and 12 civilians, an army statement said.

Farooq Butt, an official at the state-run emergency service called 1122, said authorities had declared an emergency in hospitals. He said about 20 people were injured in the plane crash, Associated Press reported.

Rawalpindi is close to the capital, Islamabad, and is where the headquarters of the Pakistan army is based.

Butt said a rescue operation was still ongoing. An AP reporter at the scene of the crash saw a burning house and some makeshift homes.

Rescue officials say the plane suddenly lost control with the tower and reason for the incident was not known.

The website of newspaper The News carried footage showing a building engulfed in flames. There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash or the type of aircraft involved, Reuters reported.

Military and civilian rescue teams were at the scene and extinguished the fire and took the injured to hospital, the statement from the army’s communications wing said.