The plane was carrying about 40 people. PIA said its plane had lost contact with the control tower en route to the capital, Islamabad, from the northern region of Chitral.
The plane crashed in the Havelian area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 125km north of Islamabad.
“All of the bodies are burnt beyond recognition. The debris is scattered,” government official Taj Muhammad Khan said.
Khan, who was at the crash site, said witnesses had told him the aircraft had crashed in a mountainous area, and had been on fire before it hit the ground.
Images shown on Pakistani TV and circulated on social media showed a trail of wreckage engulfed in flames on a mountain slope.
