A Pakistani plane carrying 40 passengers and seven crew members crashed on Wednesday after takeoff from the mountainous northern city of Chitral to Islamabad, aviation authorities said.

Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK661 crashed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.

An earlier airline statement said the ATR-42 turboprop aircraft had lost contact en route from Chitral.

"Police and rescue officials are on the way but have yet not reached the site," said Saeed Wazir, a senior local police official.

The plane came down near the town of Havelian in Abbottabad district in the province.

State-run Pakistan Television showed a huge fire rising from the site of the crash

Pakistan's last major air disaster was in 2015 when a Pakistani military helicopter crashed in a remote northern valley, killing eight people.

The deadliest crash was in 2010, when an Airbus 321 operated by private airline Airblue and flying from Karachi crashed into hills outside Islamabad while about to land, killing all 152 on board.

The accident was blamed on a confused captain and a hostile cockpit atmosphere in an official report.