Major crash into Karachi suburb - steaming video . . .

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Russian made cargo plane, possibly an IL-76 crashed into a suburb of Karachi.

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Cargo plane crashes near Karachi apartments: officials

By Hasan Mansoor (AFP) – 1 hour ago

KARACHI — A Russian-made cargo plane crashed in a fireball near residential apartments in Karachi, seconds after taking off from the city's airport Sunday with eight people on board, Pakistani officials said.

The Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft had been bound for the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Pervez George told AFP.

Police said there were injuries, but there was no immediate confirmation on casualty numbers or whether people had been hurt on the ground.

The crash caused a massive blaze in the Dalmai neighbourhood, where the Pakistan Air Force and Nay have residential apartments and sensitive installations close to Jinnah International airport, witnesses said.

"It took off from Karachi at 1:45 am (20:45 GMT Saturday) and after one and a half minutes it crashed," George told AFP.

"It was an IL-76 cargo plane. It was going to Khartoum. It had eight people on board," he said.

Sunday's plane crash was the third in four months in Pakistan, a country of around 170 million people where inter-city travel is most efficient by air, and the second in Karachi in just four weeks.

Police said injured people had been evacuated to local hospitals, but had no immediate confirmation on numbers or whether there had been any deaths.

The explosion caused by the crash was so powerful that local residents thought it was triggered by a bomb, said Karachi police chief Fayyas Leghari.

"The crash has created a large fire. The fire brigade is on site and trying to extinguish the flames, but the fire is too large to bring under control quickly, so it will take time," he said.

"It was a huge blast. People thought it was a bomb blast. Police are trying to assess the number of casualties. Several injured people have been taken to the local hospital."

A Civil Aviation Authority official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said that the plane crashed into a building under construction close to Navy residential apartments.

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Unconfirmed as 4L-MGC Sun Ways IL-76 Photo.