.:: SAMAA - Nationwide mourning today

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet has announced one day nationwide mourn today (Thursday) while cancelling its meeting over the plane crash incident in Margalla Hills.

National flag were to fly at half mast from all public buildings in mourning for the dead.

The Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had summoned two important sessions Wednesday. Chief Ministers of all four provinces were invited in the first session.

The Cabinet meeting has been cancelled in grief over the the Margalla incident.

The Cabinet members also offered Fatiha for the Rashid Hussain, son of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

The Prime Minister took an aerial view of the plane crash site and observed the rescue operation on helicopter. The Chief Ministers of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa accompanied him.

AGENCIES ADD: Pakistan observed a day of mourning Thursday for the 152 people killed in the country's worst aviation disaster, as heavy rains delayed the search for the aircraft's black box.

The Airblue passenger jet from Karachi crashed in a ball of flames, killing everyone on board and disintegrating in the heavily forested Margalla hills outside the Pakistani capital during heavy rain and poor visibility.

National flag were to fly at half mast from all public buildings on Thursday in mourning for the dead.

US President Barack Obama offered his "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of those killed. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply saddened" by the tragedy and China's President Hu Jintao also conveyed his condolences.

"Rescue teams will resume the search operation as soon as it stops raining as we still have to find the black box," police official Bani Amin told AFP.

Investigators hope the flight data recorder will give clues to the fate of the 10-year-old Airbus which was piloted by an experienced captain.

The government said all possible causes would be investigated, including terrorism, bad weather and sabotage, although officials gave no indication that an attack might have been to blame.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition or ripped to pieces, forcing health officials to use DNA tests and ID documentation to identify them.

"Our main concern is to find identification papers and other belongings of the passengers, which will greatly help identify the bodies lying in the hospitals," said Amin, who has been supervising the rescue operation.

"We may also find some body pieces during the search but it all depends how quickly it stops raining," he said.

Two Americans, an Austrian-born businessman and seven children were among the 152 people on board flight ED 202 from the southern city of Karachi.

The Airbus 321 was coming in to land at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International airport when witnesses saw it flying at an unusually low altitude before hearing a deafening boom.

The plane broke apart into a gorge between two hills, scattering debris in three directions on hillsides enveloped in cloud and some distance from the road, severely hampering initial rescue efforts on Wednesday.

"I saw a big ball of smoke and fire everywhere with big pieces of aircraft rolling down the hill," police official Haji Taj Gul said. SAMAA/AGENCIES