Inaugural flight of a private airlines crashes near Islamabad airport

A passenger aircraft of Bhoja Air, a private airlines of Pakistan, crashes short of Benazir International Airport Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday evening.

The aircraft carrying 127 passengers and crew had taken off from Karachi for Islamabad on its inaugural flight. The airlines, whose operations were suspended awhile ago, had been allowed to operate again and today was its first flight from Karachi to Islamabad. It is feared that all aboard have succumbed to to he accident. 

Probable location of the crash site on the landing approach of the Benazir Intl Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan

The plane took off from Karachi at 5:00pm and was supposed to land in Islamabad at 6:40pm but crashed just before touchdown. At the time of the crash, a sudden weather had developed around Islamabad with fast winds blowing, followed by heavy rainfall with reduced visibility.

Since the aircraft crashed short of the runway, which is thickly populated, it is also feared that many on ground may also have been affected by the crash. Some eye witnesses have informed the local media network that fire has engulfed many houses near the crash site while bodies of dead and possibly injured passengers can been seen all around the area. 


As per initial reports, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) did not receive any distress signal from the captain of the aircraft before the crash.

Read more for live update: The Express Tribune
Passengers List aboard Bhoja Air Flight B4-213

Read more »

Siachen tragedy - Day 7: Foreign teams arrive to help avalanche rescuers

Landslide in Siachen has blanketed 138 Pakistan Army personnel since one week

The rescue operation in Siachen, Pakistan entered its seventh day with the arrival of three Swiss, six German and eight American experts on Friday.

The search operation, undertaken to evacuate buried soldiers, gained momentum after German, Swiss and American experts reached the Gayari area, a military official administering the army operation said.

Other military officials, who provide updates about the rescue operation through a helpline, said that at present rescuers are set to dig a 130-foot tunnel into the snow and are mainly focusing on six ‘priority points’ where they believe the army’s battalion headquarters was present in Gyari.

Read more: The Express Tribune

Related: Siachen Disaster

Read more »

Siachen Landslide: operation continues on day 6

Siachen landslide buries 138 under 80 feet of snow/rubble

As rescue efforts to recover the buried soldiers enter its sixth day in Gayari, Siachen, another priority point (Sixth Site) has been added to the search, adding to the already five identified points.

Currently there are 15 heavy machines including Dumpers, Dozers, Excavators and Loaders at the site.

At point one, the excavation has managed to reach 115 feet deep. Work is also expected to start on the 130 feet long horizontal tunnel with a diameter of three meters to attain access to the accommodation area.

Meanwhile at point two, excavation work has reached 100 feet deep.

A 450 meters long access track has been developed and improved by adding sub-grade to improve traction for wheeled excavation equipment on the avalanche to access the priority points.

Read more: The Express Tribune

Read more »

Nine Pakistanis among 12 hostages freed from Somali pirates

The Danish Navy on Thursday said it had stopped a pirate ship off the Somali coast, rescuing 12 hostages, nine of them Pakistanis, and arresting their 16 captors.

“The Danish warship Absalon yesterday (Wednesday) stopped a pirate mother-ship. Sixteen suspected pirates have been arrested. Twelve hostages from Pakistan and Iran have been rescued,” the navy said in a statement. “No one was injured during the operation,” navy spokesman Mikael Bill told AFP, adding that nine of the hostages were Pakistani and three were Iranian and that they had been held by the suspected pirates for about a month.

“They were being held on their own boat,” a fishing vessel, which the pirates had hijacked and used to attack other ships, Bill explained. 


Read more: Pakistan Today

Read more »

Pakistan storm into the final of Asia Cup

Pakistan relied on a clinical display to storm into the final of the Asia Cup cricket tournament after thrashing a hapless Sri Lanka by six wickets to record their second successive victory.

Jubilant Misbah and Azam as Pakistan dismantles Sri Lanka with 6 wickets in hand

After bundling out Sri Lanka for a paltry 188 all out in 45.4 overs, the Pakistanis rode on captain Misbah-ul Haq (72 not out) and Umar Akmal's (77) record 152-run partnership to cruise to a comfortable victory with a bonus point and with 61 balls to spare at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium.

Pace-man Aizaz Cheema (4/43) and spinner Saeed Ajmal (3/27) played a big role in ripping through the Sri Lankan batting line up which paid the price for some poor shot selections. Only Kumar Sangakkarra (71) and Upul Tharanga (57) managed to put up decent knocks.

The defeat has virtually knocked Sri Lanka out of the tournament having lost both their league matches so far. Sri Lanka had lost to India by 50 runs in their opening match on Tuesday. Pakistan is most likely to face India in the final of the Asia Cup.

Shared from: Zee News

You may also read: Pakistan Outclasses Sri Lanka in Asia Cup

Read more »

Chinese bank ‘backs off’ from Iran gas pipeline

A Pakistan federal cabinet committee on Tuesday constituted a ministerial committee for reviewing alternate options to arrange funds for construction of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline after a Chinese bank backed off from financing the project, understandably under the Western pressure. 

“A probable reason for not signing the agreement [by the ICBC] to date could be changing geo-political situation in the region,” said a petroleum ministry summary tabled at the ECC meeting. Earlier, the US has threatened to impose sanctions on companies that deal with Iran.

The ICBC was finalised as the financial advisor through an international competitive bidding. However, according to a petroleum ministry official, the bank had demanded awarding the pipeline construction project to a Chinese firm without competitive bidding.

Read details: Express Tribune

Read more »