KARACHI, Feb 24: Afghanistan’s Minister for Mines and Industries, Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, and seven other people were killed on Monday when a chartered Cessna bound for the Juzzak airfield near Saindak in Balochistan, crashed in the Arabian Sea, some 56km west of Karachi.

There were no survivors and Pakistan Navy rescue teams recovered at least five bodies from the sea. They were brought to PNS Shifa.

After concluding his official talks in Islamabad about the proposed trans-Afghan pipeline, Mr Mohammadi and his colleagues were travelling to Juzzak at the invitation of a Chinese mineral exploration firm after concluding weekend talks in Islamabad on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project. He was accompanied by the Chinese company’s chief executive, Sun Cheng Sheng, who was also killed in the crash.

The plane had been flying at 9,000 feet when it suddenly plunged into the sea, losing contact with air traffic control, sources said. The cause of the crash was not yet known, they added.

The Met office told Dawn that weather was fair early in the morning in the area and there was no fog because of dry winds.

The Cessna, which was chartered by Star Aviation from Edhi air ambulance for the Chinese firm, Metallurgic Construction Company Resource Development, had left Karachi airport at 8.10am for Juzzak airfield in Balochistan with eight people on board — five Afghans, one Chinese and two Pakistanis — including the pilot.

The aircraft was being flown by Syed Sajid Ali of the Edhi Air Ambulance, a retired colonel. Capt Nadir Iqbal Mirza, a great grandson of the Sindhi scholar Mirza Qaleech Baig, representing Star Aviation, was also on board.

Shortly after 8.30am the plane lost contact with the Civil Aviation authorities following which the navy was called in for help.

According to Commander Roshan Khayal of the ISPR, the navy mounted a rescue operation, sent helicopters and called in a patrolling ship in the area.

Five bodies had been recovered and some parts of the wreckage of the plane were located by PN helicopters and its patrolling surface ship, near Cape Montze, about 10 nautical miles ahead of the Pakistan Navy’s firing range on Churna Island, in the Arabian Sea, he said.

Rizwan Edhi told Dawn that the accident had occurred near the Sonmiani firing range of the Pakistan Navy, near Bundarwari Bay, Churna Islands.

He said that his social welfare organization had a Cessna-206 Piper and a helicopter. Edhi Trust’s administrative officer, Fariduddin, said the aircraft was airworthty.

Star Aviation had hired it out to the Chinese engineering firm, Metallurgic Construction Company. It is not clear why a plane used for ambulance service and rescue operations was hired out for some other purpose.

The Afghan minister was accompanied by the director of his ministry, Mohammad Amin Sadiq; mines ministry advisers, Ahmad Latif Alumi and Rehmatullah Popalzai; and Afghan foreign ministry official Farhad Ahmad.

The acting Afghan Consul-General, Shahabuddin Saqib, identified the bodies at the naval hospital, PNS Shifa. The death of the Afghan minister and other officials was also confirmed by the Afghan authorities in Kabul.

The rescue operation was continuing when this report was filed on Monday night.

Hasan Akhtar adds from Islamabad: Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan told reporters on Monday that the Government of Pakistan had expressed its condolence at the “very unfortunate accident” which would be investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Foreign Office said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf who is participating in the NAM summit in Malaysia, and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had been informed about the air crash tragedy.

According to the spokesman, Mr Mohammadi had left Karachi for visiting a mineral mining project in Balochistan.

The spokesman said that so far he was not in a position to give further details about the crash or its possible causes.