Asia

Pakistan opens probe into deadly plane crash that killed 47

Associated Press
Published | Updated

CORRECTS NAME OF THE VILLAGE - Pakistani investigators examine the wreckage of a passenger plane crashed in the village of Gug, Pakistan Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. A Pakistani aviation spokesman says authorities have opened a probe into the plane crash in the country's northwest the previous day. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) (The Associated Press)

CORRECTS NAME OF THE VILLAGE - A Pakistan villager stands at the site of plane crash as investigation is in progress in Gug near Havelian, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Pakistan's national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) says the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the northern city of Chitral with 48 people aboard. A spokesman for Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority said Wednesday that the cause of the crash was unclear. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) (The Associated Press)

CORRECTS NAME OF THE VILLAGE - Pakistani investigators examine the wreckage of a passenger plane crash in Gug near Havelian, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Pakistan's national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) says the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the northern city of Chitral with 48 people aboard. A spokesman for Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority said Wednesday that the cause of the crash was unclear. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistani aviation spokesman says authorities have opened a probe into the plane crash in the country's northwest the previous day that killed all 47 passengers and crew.

Pervez George, the spokesman for Civil Aviation Authority, says experts are in the hillside village of Saddha Batolni in the district of Abbottabad, where the small twin-propeller aircraft crashed and burst into flames.

The military is using three helicopters to transport the remains of the victims from a hospital in the northwestern city of Abbottabad to the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday.

The plane was travelling from the scenic mountain resort of Chitral to Islamabad when it developed a fault and went down on Wednesday.

Pakistan International Airlines has confirmed that all 42 passengers and five crew members were killed in the crash.