RAWALPINDI, Aug 29: A Karachi-bound Boeing 737 of the national flag carrier was grounded at Islamabad International Airport when one of its front doors was damaged by a catering van on Thursday night, sources said.

The plane (night coach flight PK-319) was parked at Bay No 2 at around 10 pm when the hydraulic trolley of a catering van moving vertically upwards hit one of the front doors of the plane damaging it seriously.

The plane was immediately grounded, while the van driver, Iqbal Hussain, was suspended, the source said.

A senior official of the airline told this reporter that an inquiry had been ordered into the incident. The 94 passengers of the grounded plane were sent to Karachi on Friday by PK-301.