Summary
28 July 2010
A passenger plane with more than a hundred and fifty people on board has crashed as it was coming in to land at Islamabad airport. The plane came down in torrential rain in the Margalla hills overlooking the capital.
Reporter:
Helen Fawkes
Soldiers rush to the site of the crash
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A civil aviation official has said there were difficult weather conditions at the time of the crash. There was torrential rain and heavy mist in the area. Images from Pakistani television show smoke rising from the spot where the plane came down.
The flight originated in Turkey. Police said it was an Airblue flight to Islamabad via Karachi with more than 150 people on board. The company operates flights domestically as well as to Britain and to the Gulf.
The aircraft crashed to the north of Islamabad. The plane is said to have lost contact with the control tower minutes before landing. A huge rescue operation has been launched, but it's being hampered by the poor weather conditions.
Helen Fawkes, 大象传媒 News
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Vocabulary
- a civil aviation official
a spokesperson for commercial passenger flights
- torrential
very heavy
- originated
started its journey from
- via
passing through
- operates domestically
flies to destinations within the country, not only abroad
- lost contact
had no more communication with
- control tower
a building at an airport from which air traffic is watched and directed
- rescue operation
a plan to help people in a dangerous situation
- been launched
begun
- being hampered
prevented from happening easily
