A Pakistan Airlines (PIA) plane, flying from the northern town of Chitral to capital Islamabad, crashed in the mountainous north of the country on Wednesday. It was carrying 47 people on board, said a report.

Flight PK-116 lost contact with the control tower soon after take-off, said a report in The Times of India, citing senior police officials.

They confirmed that the plane had crashed near Havelian, a hilly area near Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Civil and military rescue teams have been dispatched to the area to find the whereabouts of the aircraft, the report added.