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		</div><p>A passenger plane with 98 people on board has crashed in a crowded neighbourhood on the edge of the international airport near Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi after what appeared to be an engine failure during landing.</p>
<p>Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar said at least five or six houses were destroyed in the crash of the domestic flight operated by Pakistan International Airlines.</p>
<p>He said all those on board died, but two civil aviation officials later said that at least two people survived the crash.</p>
<p>Local TV stations reported that three people sitting in the front row of the plane survived and aired footage of a man on a stretcher they identified as Zafar Masood, the head of the Bank of Punjab.</p>
<p>They reported that at least 11 bodies were recovered from the crash site and six people were injured.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear if the casualties were passengers.</p>
<p>Police wearing protective masks struggled to clear away crowds to allow a fire engine and an ambulance to move through the narrow streets towards the crash site, the air filled with dust and smoke.</p>
<p>Police and soldiers cordoned off the area.</p>
<p>A transmission of the pilot’s final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website LiveATC.net, indicated he had failed to land and was circling around to make another attempt.</p>
<p>“We are proceeding direct, sir — we have lost engine,” a pilot said.</p>
<p>“Confirm your attempt on belly,” the air traffic controller said, offering a runway.</p>
<p>“Sir – mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday Pakistan 8303,” the pilot said before the transmission ended.</p>
<p>The aircraft arriving from the eastern city of Lahore was carrying 91 passengers and seven crew members, said Abdul Sattar Kokhar of Pakistan’s civil aviation authority.</p>
<p>Pakistan had resumed domestic flights earlier this week ahead of the Eid-al Fitr holiday marking the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.</p>
<p>Pakistan has been in a countrywide lockdown since mid-March to try to stem the spread of coronavirus.</p>
<p>Witnesses said the Airbus A320 appeared to attempt to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near Jinnah International Airport.</p>
<p>The residential area, known as Model Colony, is poor and densely populated.</p>
<p>A resident, Abdul Rahman, said he saw the aircraft circle at least three times, appearing to try to land before it crashed into several houses.</p>
<p>Video on social media appeared to show the aircraft flying low over a residential area with flames shooting from one of its engines.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shocked &; saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi &; with the rescue &; relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now. Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers &; condolences go to families of the deceased.</p>
<p>&mdash; Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1263789437856755712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Prime minister Imran Khan tweeted: “Shocked &; saddened by the PIA crash… Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers &; condolences go to families of the deceased.”</p>
<p>Airworthiness documents showed the plane last received a government check on November 1.</p>
<p>PIA’s chief engineer signed a separate certificate on April 28 saying all maintenance had been conducted.</p>
<p>It said the aircraft was “fully airworthy and meets all the safety” standards.<br />
Ownership records for the Airbus A320 showed China Eastern Airlines flew the plane from 2004 until 2014.</p>
<p>The plane then entered PIA’s fleet, leased from GE Capital Aviation Services.</p>
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