A Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane with more than 40 people aboard crashed Wednesday shortly after taking off in northern Pakistan, authorities said.

The PIA plane had departed from Chitral, near the Afghan border about 175 miles northwest of Islamabad, when it lost contact with ground controllers.

Rescue teams were dispatched to a mountainous region believed to be the scene of the crash, but there were no immediate details on the cause or possible casualties, the spokesman for Pakistan’s civil aviation agency, Pervez George, told the Reuters news agency.

PIA said about 40 people were aboard the Islamabad-bound flight, but civil aviation officials said there were 47 passengers and crew.


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