The Boeing 737, operated by local airline Bhoja Air, was
flying to the capital from Pakistan’s biggest city and business
hub Karachi. It crashed more than five miles (nine km) from the
international airport.

Aviation official Pervez George gave no details of
casualties.

But rescue workers at the crash site said there was no
chance of finding survivors.

Body parts lay among wreckage strewn in a small settlement
just outside Islamabad.

Residents said they had seen a ball of fire in the sky when
the plane crashed. Parts of the plane smashed into electricity
poles, blanketing the area in darkness.

Officials gave no immediate indication as to why they
thought the plane had crashed.

A man who had been waiting at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto
International Airport for the flight yelled “my two daughters
are dead” as tears streamed down his face.

In a state of shock, he then slumped on the floor and sat
silently as other relatives of passengers crowded around lists
of those on board.

The uncle of the sisters, 18 and 20, said they were supposed
to return to Islamabad on Sunday but flew early to see an aunt
who is visiting from London.

“We don’t even know when or where we will get to see their
bodies,” said the uncle, Qamar Abbas, who kept mumbling “no, no,
no” to himself.

Nearby, relatives of passengers hugged each other and
sobbed. One man cried “my kids, my kids”.

Among them was Zarina Bibi, desperate to determine whether
her husband was on the flight. “He called me before leaving
Karachi but I don’t know if he was on this flight or not,” said
Bibi, whose eyes were red from crying.

State television reported that all hospitals in Islamabad
and the nearby city of Rawalpindi had been put on high alert
after the crash.

The last major aviation accident in Pakistan was in July
2010, when a commercial airliner operated by AirBlue with 152
people on board crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad.

In 2006, a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed
near the central city of Multan, killing 45 people.

(Additional reporting by Qasim Nauman, Rebecca Conway and Rehan
Sheikh in ISLAMABAD and Sahar Ahmed in KARACHI; Writing by
Michael Georgy; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

Relations between the two uneasy allies have been frayed after the discovery and killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani military town in May 2011 just two hours from Islamabad. Pakistan called that a violation of its sovereignty.

Ties plunged to a new low in November when NATO aircraft mistakenly attacked two Pakistani border posts and killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Details on the agenda for the Seoul talks were sketchy, but spokesman Akram Shaheedi said they would touch on issues of importance to both sides.

The Seoul summit will focus on measures to protect nuclear materials and facilities from militants and to prevent their illicit trafficking. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and their security are likely to be discussed.

Pakistan’s is the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world, with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists estimating that it could number between 150-200 warheads in a decade, making its arsenal larger than Britain’s.

The unstable south Asian country has been the lone hold-out on starting talks leading to a treaty that would prevent the further production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. It cites concerns that it would be left at a disadvantage against traditional rival India, which has its own nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan has fought and lost three wars and several major skirmishes with India since partition in 1947.

While the United States has publicly expressed confidence in Pakistan’s ability to safeguard its weapons and fissile material from militant groups such as al Qaeda, officials have privately voiced concern. Those concerns were especially heightened after an assault on a naval base near Karachi by al Qaeda-backed fighters shortly after the bin Laden raid.

Analysts said at the time that the assault showed that militants were developing the capability to penetrate highly-secure areas and hold their ground for several hours.

Next week’s meeting would be the highest-level meeting between the two uneasy allies since the bin Laden raid. A proposed meeting between Gilani and Obama in New York at the United Nations in September was called off at the last minute after Obama reportedly refused to meet with him.

The last such high-level meeting was in January 2011, when President Asif Ali Zardari visited the White House.

(Editing by Ron Popeski)