Pakistan Karachi Plane Crash November 28: 8 People Dead (Photo)

by Amy Judd | November 27, 2010 at 03:43 pm

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In the Pakistan City of Karachi, a Plane Crashed in a Residential Area Early on Sunday Morning, Killing at Least 8 People

The plane crash caused a huge fire and killed all eight aboard the plane with at least three casualties on the ground. The plane was a Russian-made Ilyshin IL-76 cargo plane that was heading to Khartoum in Sudan.

According to Sky News, the aircraft crashed two minutes after take off and crashed into a housing complex for naval officers in the Dalmai neighborhood. (CNN has a photo of the crash scene).

The plane reportedly took off at 1:45am from the Jinnah Karachi International Airport.

Loud explosions could be heard after the crash and several buildings were on fire. According to one witness, a fire could be seen on board the plane before it crashed but that has not been confirmed.

The explosion caused by the crash was so powerful that local residents thought it was triggered by a bomb, said Karachi police chief Fayyas Leghari.

He said: "The crash has created a large fire. The fire brigade is on site and trying to extinguish the flames, but the fire is too large to bring under control quickly, so it will take time.

"It was a huge blast. People thought it was a bomb blast. Police are trying to assess the number of casualties. Several injured people have been taken to the local hospital."

We will update this post with more information when it becomes available.