17 dead as Pak military plane crashes in residential area

Islamabad: At least 17 are dead after a Pakistani army plane crashed into a residential area in the major city of Rawalpindi early Tuesday morning, the country's military said in a statement.

Locals reported hearing a loud explosion at about 2 a.m. after seeing a plane flying unusually low over the city.

"It was very, very low, unlike the planes that usually fly over the area," said restaurant worker Irfan Zareen. "Suddenly, the plane started doing somersaults in the air and abruptly crashed."

The body of a victim, killed after a Pakistani Army Aviation Corps aircraft crashed into residential buildings, is wheeled on a stretcher at hospital in Rawalpindi on July 30.

The plane came down in a suburb of Rawalpindi, between Bahria Town and the Defense Housing Authority, which is populated by working-class villages. Zareen said a number of houses were either damaged or destroyed.

Bike shop owner Mehvish Iqlaq said army helicopters and ambulances arrived and sealed off the area within 10 minutes of the crash. The area had been dark, without street lights, when the plane came down, she added.