PIA plane crash

MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistan International Airlines' Fokker
passenger plane crashed on Monday killing all 45 people on board, the
police chief in the central city of Multan said.

"Everyone is dead. I am standing at the site," police chief Iftikhar
Babar told Reuters.

Flight PK 688, en route for Lahore before flying on to Islamabad,
crashed 10 minutes after take-off from Multan airport. It was carrying
41 passengers and four crew, PIA spokesman Hasan Jaferry said.

"Bodies are badly charred. The debris has caught fire," a Reuters
eyewitness said.

He said rescue workers from the privately run relief foundation Edhi,
the Civil Aviation Authority and the army were taking part in the
rescue operation.

The plane crashed near a government primary school, around three km
(two miles) from the airport.