Pakistan International Airlines ATR-42-500, flight PK-661 from Chitral to Islamabad (Pakistan) with 47 people on board, declared emergency reporting problems with the left engine, shortly afterwards radio and radar contact was lost with the aircraft.

Residents in Havelian near Abbottabad (Pakistan) heard sounds consistent with an impact. The crash site was located at that position about 25nm north of Islamabad. Emergency serivces are on their way to the crash site.

Local government sources report, seven bodies have been recovered, chances to find survivors are “bleak”.

The airline reported contact with flight PK-661 has been lost, all resources have been mobilized to locate the aircraft.

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the aircraft declared emergency shortly before it disappeared from radar screens. A search for the missing aircraft is underway.

Unverified information suggests the aircraft involved was AP-BHO.

“All of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. The debris is scattered,” Taj Muhammad Khan, a government official based in the Havelian region, told Reuters.

Mr Khan, who was at the site of the crash, added that witnesses told him “the aircraft has crashed in a mountainous area, and before it hit the ground it was on fire”.

The witnesses had told him that the aircraft had crashed into the mountainous area, and was on fire before it hit the ground.

It is believed that there were 31 men, 9 women and two children on board the flight when it crashed.

Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned evangelical Muslim cleric, was on board, an airline official confirmed to Reuters.