An airliner has crashed near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board.
The plane, a flight from Karachi to Islamabad operated by the private airline Airblue, came down in hills north the city as it was about to land.
There is no word on the cause of the crash. At the time the area was shrouded in fog.
Pakistani TV showed images of smouldering wreckage on a foggy hillside, with helicopters overhead.
Airblue is the largest of the private airlines which have sprung up in Pakistan in recent years.
The company and civil aviation officials are adamant there were no technical problems with the plane when it left Karachi. They say there was nothing in conversations between the pilot and the Islamabad control tower that suggests anything was wrong.
However, airport officials told the BBC that two flights due to land in the capital had been turned back before the ill-fated Airblue plane crashed, in what is the biggest air disaster seen in Pakistan.
Although the country's air industry has been booming, critics say standards have not always kept pace with the increase in services. Pilots complain they are being forced to fly extra hours which they say leads to fatigue, a claim denied by the airlines.
Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of the Capital Development Authority, which deals with emergencies, said the crash was "heartbreaking".
"It is a great tragedy, and I confirm it with pain that there are no survivors," he told the Associated Press news agency.
The plane, reported to be an Airbus A321 with 146 passengers and six crew on board, is thought to have left Karachi at 0750 (0350 GMT).
Two Americans were among the victims, a US embassy spokesman said, but gave no further details.
Pakistan's interior ministry initially said at least five survivors had been taken to hospital, but local officials later said those reports were wrong.
Local TV footage showed twisted metal wreckage hanging from trees and scattered across the ground. The flight data recorder has been found.
Officials said rescuers searching for survivors were digging through the rubble with their bare hands. The crash site, on a steep hill, has no roads.
"The plane is totally destroyed, the pieces and parts scattered over a large distance. Some parts of the plane are still burning. Some bushes have been burnt," said Express 24/7 television journalist Sabur Ali Sayed at the scene.
Aamir Ali Ahmed, a senior city government official, told Reuters: "It's a very difficult operation because of the rain. Most of the bodies are charred. We're sending body-bags via helicopters."
Airblue
Continue reading the main story
- One of Pakistan's most respected airlines
- Operates since 2004 on domestic and international routes
- Uses A320 and A321 aircraft
- Flight 202 is company's first crash
Airblue spokesman Raheel Ahmed told reporters that the crash was "an extremely tragic incident", adding that an investigation had been launched.
The BBC's Haroon Rashid in Islamabad saw the plane flying low over the capital.
"I was surprised to see the plane, because the area where I live is called a no-fly zone as it is close to some of Islamabad's most important official buildings, including President House and parliament," he said.
Other witnesses saw the plane flying towards the hills, and shortly after that heard a loud explosion and smoke billowing into the air.
Express 24/7 TV reporter Anjum Rahman said she saw the plane flying over the rooftops of houses where she lives.