PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistan International Airlines plane with 48 people on board, including a famous former pop singer, crashed near Abbottabad in northern Pakistan on Wednesday, government officials and the airline said.

The flight, PK 661, was traveling to Islamabad, the capital, from Chitral, a northern tourist destination near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, when it crashed, said Saeed Wazir, the deputy inspector general of police in Abbottabad district.

At least 40 bodies were taken from the crash site on Wednesday night and brought to a hospital in Abbottabad. Recovery efforts continued, aided by hundreds of soldiers, but officials held out little hope that anyone would be found alive.

“What locals from the crash scene are telling us, the passengers are all burned,” Mr. Wazir said. “Smoke and fire are billowing from the debris. No one can go near it. People are helpless.”