There has been no indication given as to what caused Pakistan’s worst-ever passenger plane disaster. A day of mourning is being observed across the country as teams of rescue workers struggle to sift through debris and recover the bodies of the victims. According to eyewitnesses, the Airbus A321, carrying a total of 152 passengers and crew, was flying at a very low level in monsoon rain and with poor visibility. Reports that the aircraft’s black-box flight recorder has been recovered are being denied by officials.

The aircraft crashed into the Margalla Hills close to the capital city of Islamabad. The location of the crash site combined with poor weather conditions is making it extremely difficult for rescue workers to get to the site.

According to Qamar Zaman Kaira, the country’s Information Minister, 115 bodies have so far been recovered from the wreckage. The minister added that the bodies had been badly damaged in the accident and that DNA testing would be required to identify many of the victims.

Dawar Adna, one of the rescue workers at the scene, told Associated Press that the crash site was awful and that there were body parts strewn all over. Currently, the identities of only 46 of the passengers have been confirmed. City government official, Aamir Ali Ahmed, told Reuters that the recovery operation was being hampered by the rain and confirmed that many of the bodies had been badly burned.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has ordered that flags be flown at half-mast throughout the country and declared that Thursday is to be a day of mourning.