
A Pakistani plane with 48 people on board has crashed, with one of the country's best known musicians among the dead.

The Pakistan International Airlines ATR-42 aircraft vanished after taking off from the Northern Chitral region, the airline has stated.

Pakistani pop star, actor and TV presenter Junaid Jamshed was among those who perished when the plane crashed.

It is also believed two children were among the casualties. Officials have confirmed that all 48 on board have died.

British boxer Amir Khan revealed he was a friend of singer Junaid Jamshed and said: 'My heart goes out to all the families who lost their loves ones.'

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More than 40 people, including a well-known musician, are feared dead after the plane crashed on a flight to Islamabad

Killed: Former pop star Junaid Jamshed, who had 2.8 million Facebook fans, has been named among the world's 500 most influential Muslims

Members of a civil society group hold candles during a vigil for the victims of the plane crash, which was held in Multan

Pakistani soldiers search for victims from the wreckage of the crashed PIA passenger plane Flight PK661

Soldiers worked throught the night at the crash site in the village of Saddha Batolni in the Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

Local legislator Sardar Aurangzeb Nalota said there was 'no chance' anyone survived that horror crash.

The national carrier confirmed in a statement that Flight PK-661, from the city of Chitral to Islamabad, had lost contact with air traffic controllers.

It is understood that a mayday call had been made shortly before the plane disappeared.

Sardar Buhadar, mayor of district Abbotabad, said that all bodies have recovered from the site of crash to a local hospital. 'All but two bodies are beyond recognition. They are pieces and not bodies.

'Total 47 people were on board but we have brought 49 body bags because you cannot tell men from women.

'Most of the pieces are in mutilated and in burnt form. We have decided to shift them to Islamabad early tomorrow. They can only be recognised through DNA test,' he said.

The plane crashed in mountains near Batolvi village in Abbottabad district.

The search for survivors continued tonight in the darkness, although all those on board are feared to be dead

Sardar Buhadar, mayor of district Abbotabad, said that all bodies have recovered from the site of crash to a local hospital

Pakistani volunteers move remains of plane crash victims to a mortuary at a hospital, in Abbottabad, in Pakistan

Pakistani rescue workers and volunteers collect remains of the victims at the site of plane crash in a village near the town of Havelian, about 45 miles northwest of the capital, Islamabad

The plane crash, which saw the jet burst into flames killing everyone on board is one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the country's history

A village resident, Zahid Khan, 37, said: 'I was sitting outside my home around 4.20pm Pakistan time when I saw this plane going downwards. After a few seconds it crashed to a mountains with a bang caught fire.

'I along with several others rushed to the crash site. It took me hiking of more than an hour to reach the site. I saw terrible scenes there. I saw burnt human faces, arms and legs.

'We tried to rescue bodies but there were only pieces. the body parts were scattered all over the place. There was no sign of life in any of these parts. Terrible,' he said.

The airline has confirmed that the plane was carrying 42 passengers, five crew members and a ground engineer.

Three people on board were foreign nationals, the airline has confirmed, with one of them from China. It is not yet known where the other two crash victims were from.

Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region, told Reuters: 'All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered.'

Pakistani soldiers transport remains found in the wreckage of the crashed PIA passenger plane Flight PK661 to a mortuary at a hospital in Abbottabad

The crash happened near Havelian in the north of Pakistan as the Islamabad-bound plane lost contact with ground control

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said there were no survivors. Rescuers told The Associated Press that the victims' bodies were beyond recognition

All 48 people on board the Pakistani plane, which crashed in the country's mountainous north and burst into flames have died, officials said

Police official Ilyas Abbasi told AFP that villagers had been retrieving body parts from the wreckage.

He said: 'The plane has crashed in a far-flung village in the mountains. One has to travel for more than four kilometres on foot to reach the spot. Villagers on site told us that the plane was first on fire and now smoke is rising from the wreckage.'

Reports in Pakistan suggest the plane was previously plagued by engine problems.

Secretary Aviation Irfan Ilahi told reporters in Islamabad, Geo News reports: 'It is premature to say anything at the moment, but we know that the aircraft had engine problems.'

A helicopter flying over the crash site, where it is thought all 48 people on board the plane died

Rescue workers search for the bodies of victims at the crash site. All those on board are believed to have perished

By this afternoon, 36 bodies had been removed from the wreckage after the disaster, with the bodies of some passengers as yet unaccounted for

People collect mortal remains of the victims from the located Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ATR-42 turboprop passenger plane which crashed near Havelian, Pakistan

He said witnesses had told him that the aircraft had crashed into the mountainous area, and was on fire before it hit the ground.

The plane was around 10 years old, and had been involved in an incident in 2009, according to AirLive.

The airline said the plane was an ATR-42 turboprop aircraft, which lost contact en route from Chitral.

Azam Saigol, chairman of PIA, confirmed that all people on board had died.

The plane, which was believed to have been carrying 48 passengers, was around 10 years old, and had reportedly been involved in another incident in 2009

Authorities say there is 'no chance' of any of the 48 people on board the flight having survived

Pictures posted online show what is believed to be the crash site after the plane went down after losing contact with air traffic control

'We hope that all bodies will be shifted to Islamabad tomorrow and then we will start process of handing them over to their families,' he said, adding that captain Saleh was an experienced pilot with 12,000 flying hours of experience.

'He was considered instructor of ATR plane.' Saigol was not drawn on whether there was a technical fault with the plane, saying: 'We can only reveal reasons of crash after thorough investigation. We have recovered black-box. It takes time to decode black-box,'

He said that at around 4:15 pm Pakistan time, a control tower had received a message saying the plane was in trouble.

'Ground control received a mayday call before the crash,' he said.

It is believed that there were 31 men, nine women and two children on board the flight when it crashed.

Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned evangelical Muslim cleric, was on board, an airline official confirmed to Reuters.

Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned evangelical Muslim cleric, was on board the flight

Osama Warraich, Deputy Commissioner of Chitral, was among those on board the plane when it crashed

Jamshed, who had 2.8 million Facebook fans, has been named among the world's 500 most influential Muslims.

In his last Twitter post, tweeted to his 441,000 followers, he described Chitral as 'heaven on earth'.

Osama Warraich, Deputy Commissioner of Chitral, was also on board the flight, the airline has confirmed.

Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif released a statement which said: 'The entire nation is deeply saddened over today's unfortunate crash and shares the grief of the families who lost their dear ones.'

Following the tragic crash, Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif released a statement saying 'the entire nation was deeply saddened' by the event

A helicopter flying over the site of the crash, where 48 people are believed to have died

Crowds gathered at the site of the tragedy after the plane crashed. Experts believe there is no chance of finding survivors

Smoke was seen rising from the site after Pakistan International Airlines ATR-42 aircraft crashed

The aircraft was carrying 'around 40 people', the airline said in a statement, but the civil aviation authority has said 47 people were on board.

A passenger manifest shows 42 names.

It is not yet clear how many casualties there were. The airline said it has mobilised its emergency response centre.

Laiq Shah, a senior police official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the plane crashed in the province's Havelian area.

A Pakistan International Airlines ATR-42 aircraft, similar to the one which crashed

'Rescue teams are reaching the scene of the crash, and then we will know more,' Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Pervez George told Reuters.

There were no immediate details on casualties, but Pakistan's interior ministry has dispatched a team with experts on identifying bodies through DNA tests.

State-run Pakistan Television showed a huge fire rising from the site of the crash.

An airport security officer directs a motorcyclist at the entrance to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad, where the plane was bound for

Pakistani media and residents gather at Benazir Bhutto International Airport after the crash

A man holds up a section of a document discovered in the wreckage of the PIA plane

Villagers were seen standing near the site.

Geo News, citing civil aviation sources, said the plane lost contact with civil aviation authority at around 4.30pm local time.

Smoke was seen coming from the crash site, Pakistan Views reports. It said the plane took off at around 3pm, and lost contact with air traffic control 90 minutes later.

Shopkeeper Sannan Abbas said he had joined in with rescue efforts.

He told Al Jazeera: 'There was a lot of smoke when I got to the location and the wreckage of the plane was on fire.

'The first body we pulled out was badly burned. It was after that the rescue officials and the army got there.'

Friends and family of late Islamic preacher Jundaid Jamshed gather outside his home following his death in the plane crash

Jamshed rocketed to fame in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s as the singer for the Vital Signs rock group, and later launched a solo career, with a string of chart-topping albums and hits.

His name appeared on a passenger manifest for Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) flight PK661, which crashed near the northern town of Havelian. His presence on board was confirmed by Sohail Ahmed, a PIA official in Chitral.

Jamshed retired from music in 2001 and announced that he was devoting his life to Islam, joining the conservative Tableeghi Jamaat religious organisation.

The Pakistan International Airlines carrying 37 passengers plus crew 'disappeared', airline spokesman Danyal Gilani said