PIA plane with 47 aboard crashes near Abbottabad

The plane caught fire and crashed near Pipplian, a suburban village of Havelian near Abbottabad

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane with 47 people on board has crashed near a hilly area near the garrison town of Abbottabad while it was on its way to the capital, media reports said.

The ATR plane PK-661 with 47 people crashed near Havelian while en route to Islamabad from Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The national carrier's flight departed from Chitral at 3:30 PM (local time) and disappeared from the air control radar soon after take off, the Express Tribune reported.

According to military's media wing, army troops and helicopters have been dispatched to the crash site for rescue efforts.