Pakistani cargo plane goes missing over Arabian Sea

A Pakistani cargo plane en route from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan disappeared over the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, the Pakistan Airports Authority said in a statement.

"A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft en route from Sharjah to Karachi disappeared from radar over the Arabian Sea, about 300 kilometers west of Karachi, on Tuesday," the statement said.

"However, at 9.21 pm local time (1621GMT), the aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending with a rapid heading change. Subsequently, radar contact and communication were lost approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi," it added.

Following the incident, the authorities coordinated a search-and-rescue operation at sea through various agencies to locate the missing aircraft, the statement said.

There were five crew members on board the aircraft, according to the statement.