Islamabad: 45 persons were resuced while 20 passengers are confirmed dead when a Pakistani passenger plane carrying 150 people on Wednesday crashed into the heavily forested Margalla Hills overlooking Islamabad in rain and bad weather, reported The Times of India.

According to the PTI report, Private airliner Air Blue-operated Airbus A-321, flying from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi, hit the Margalla Hills near Daman-e-Koh viewpoint around 10 am in thick fog, police and a state-run rescue service officials said.

According to the Times of India, The Airbus aircraft of the private airline Air Blue hit the Margalla Hills near the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint this morning, officials of the police and a state-run rescue service said.

The aircraft, flying from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi, was preparing to land when it crashed, said Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Spokesman Pervez George.

"There were 146 passengers and six crew on board," he said. "When it was preparing to land, it crashed in the Margalla Hills." Times of India stated in his report.

Islamabad has been hit by heavy rains for the past few days and the city was covered by fog and low clouds.

An army helicopter surveyed the crash site at about 10.30 am but could not land at the spot.

Civil aviation officials said the aircraft had disappeared from radar screens shortly before the crash was reported. It had taken off from Karachi at 7.50 am.

Footage aired on TV news channels showed white smoke rising from the thick forests in the Margalla Hills. Witnesses said they had seen flames in the wreckage of the aircraft.

Earlier, Islamabad Capital Development Authority Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi had said rescue workers were doing their best to reach the site but it was unlikely that there would be any survivors.

Authorities declared an emergency in all hospitals in Islamabad.

According to the PTI report, rescue efforts hit by bad weather and smoke and fire at the crash site, a spokesperson for the state-run Rescue 1122 service said helicopters had been sought from the military.

“We have sought helicopters from the Army's aviation wing and a counter-terrorism body. We will need at least eight to 10 helicopters because of the inaccessibility of the area,” she said.

The crash occurred in an area that is not easily accessible as the Margalla Hills are covered by thick forests.

City residents said that they had seen the Air Blue aircraft flying “very low” over Islamabad shortly before the crash.