Flight PK8303, carrying 91 passengers and eight crew, was trying to land at Jinnah International Airport.
Provincial health officials confirmed at least 37 fatalities, but a far higher death toll is feared. At least three passengers survived.
The pilot had reported a loss of engine power and subsequently issued a mayday.
Flight PK-303 from Lahore was about to land in Karachi when it crashed at the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, just a minute before its landing, they said.
The PIA Airbus A320 carrying 99 passengers and eight crew members has crashed into the Jinnah housing society located near the airport, a spokesperson of the national airline said. “The captain informed the air traffic tower he is having problems with the landing gear before disappearing from the radar, he said.
The flight PK-303 was coming from Lahore to Karachi after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) allowed limited reception of domestic flights just few days back after weeks of lockdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Television channels showed several houses and cars damaged in the society where the aircraft crashed. Rescue and police officials confirmed that at least four bodies have been recovered from damaged houses so far while several injured people were also being taken to hospitals.
The Pakistan Army and the Air Force have sent their teams for carrying out rescue and relief operations, the CAA said. The PIA aircraft was flown by Captain Sajjad Gul.
A resident of the colony who witnessed the crash told Ary News channel that the aircraft had fire coming from its wings which crashed into rooftops of some houses before it crash landed.
“It is too early to say how many people have died in this tragic accident but… it will be a miracle if the passengers and crew members have survived this horrible landing,” a senior police official said on condition of anonymity.
In 2016, Pakistan suffered its deadliest recent air crash, when all 47 people on board a PIA Embraeur ATR aircraft were killed when it crashed into a mountain en route from the northern town of Chitral to the capital Islamabad.
In 2010, the country saw its worst air disaster, with all 152 people on board an Air Blue passenger flight killed when the plane crashed into the hills just north of the capital Islamabad.Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered an immediate inquiry into Friday’s crash.
