Thursday, December 23 2004 10:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Karachi: Two Pakistani passenger jets on domestic flights nearly collided in mid-air late last night (Dec 22, 2004), and at least two people were injured as one of the planes took emergency evasive action, an airline official said.

The pilot of an Pakistan International Airlines flight with 179 passengers had to suddenly take his Airbus 310 plane up 210 mtrs as it was on collision course with an Air Blue jet, said PIA spokeswoman Samina Pervez.

The near-miss happened over Rahimyarkhan in eastern Punjab province, around 700 km North East of the southern Pakistan city of Karachi, the spokeswoman said. The two planes were flying at an altitude of 11,200 mtrs at the time.

On board the PIA plane, one female crew-member suffered a broken arm, and a male passenger injured an arm and an ear, Pervez said. The plane, flying from Islamabad, landed safely with emergency teams on standby at Karachi airport around 9 pm.

It wasn't clear if anyone was hurt on the Air Blue jet, which was on a flight from Karachi to Lahore.