He added: "97 bodies recovered. 2 passengers survived. 25 affected houses cleared, their residents accommodated at various places with the assistance of Civil Administration."

The plane took off from Lahore and was due to land at 2:30 p.m. local time in Karachi but went missing from the radar, PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told CNN.

The pilot on board told air traffic control in Karachi that he had lost engines, before the plane crashed on Friday.

"We are proceeding direct, we have lost engines," the pilot can be heard saying about the plane's approach, in an audio recording of aircraft communications obtained by CNN from a Pakistani government source.

On the recording, air traffic control asks the pilot to confirm that the plane will have a belly landing, a situation where an aircraft lands without deploying its landing gear.

The pilot's response is inaudible. It is unclear why air traffic control was discussing such a landing.

A few seconds later the pilot can be heard giving several mayday calls, followed by a response from air traffic control saying both runways are clear to land. The audio then cuts off.

Khan confirmed the authenticity of the recording.

"[The pilot] had been told both landing strips were available for his use but he preferred to use the go-around landing route, we are looking into the technical issue. Our prayers for the lives that have been lost," Khan said earlier on Friday.