A Pakistan International Airlines plane with more than 40 people on board, including a Pakistani popstar, has crashed into mountains, officials said.
The Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed in a village near the town of Havelian, about 75 kilometres north west of the capital Islamabad, senior police officer Khurram Rasheed said.
Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned evangelical Muslim cleric, was believed to be onboard the aircraft, according to Reuters.
Jamshed rocketed to fame in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s as the singer for the Vital Signs rock group, and later launched a solo career, with a string of chart-topping albums and hits.
It is not clear how many passengers had been killed in the crash but officials said there were unlikely to be any survivors.
Pakistan's interior ministry dispatched a team with experts on identifying bodies through DNA tests.
State-run Pakistan Television showed a huge fire rising from the site of the crash, while villagers were seen standing nearby.
Shortly before the crash was confirmed, airline spokesman Daniyal Gilani said the ATR-42 aircraft carrying around 40 passengers and crew had lost touch with the control tower.
A local police official, Khursheed Tanoli, told state-run TV that the plane went down in a village in the north west and that rescuers are trying to reach the site of the crash.
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