Pakistan plane crash leaves dozens dead (updated)

A plane with more than 150 people on board has crashed in hills north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Officials said five bodies had been recovered and at least three injured people had been taken to hospital. Police said it was an Airblue flight to Islamabad from Karachi.

The plane came down in the Margalla Hills to the north of the capital, and Pakistani television showed images of smoke and flames on a foggy hillside, with helicopters flying overhead.

The plane, reported to be an Airbus 321 with 146 passengers and six crew on board, is thought to have left Karachi at 0750 (0350 GMT). Officials said it lost contact with the control tower minutes before landing.

Anjum Rahman, a journalist with Express 24/7 television in Islamabad, said she saw the plane flying over the rooftops of houses where she lives.

"I wondered why the plane wasn't flying higher as it was flying towards the hill. Then within three or four minutes I heard a loud explosion," she told the channel.

Witness Khadim Hussain told the Reuters news agency: "It was raining. I saw the plane flying very low from the window of my office."

Saqlain Altaf told Pakistan's ARY news channel that he was on a family outing in the hills when he saw the plane, looking unsteady in the air.

"The plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down," he said, adding that he heard the crash.

Officials said forestry guards in the Margalla Hills searching for survivors had seen five bodies.

Mohammed Usman, an official at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, said dozens of relatives of passengers gathered there were crying and desperate to get information about their loved ones.

Initial reports said the flight originated in Turkey, but this has not been confirmed. Later reports suggested it was a commuter flight.