Gunmen Seize Pan Am Plane in Pakistan

Four gunmen seized a Pan American 747 jumbo jet with 380 passengers early today at Karachi International Airport, officials said. One passenger was reported to have been shot and killed and four others, including two airport personnel, wounded.

The plane’s three-man crew escaped through an emergency exit during the commandeering of the aircraft, but the hijackers were demanding their return so the plane could fly them to Cyprus. It was not immediately clear why the hijackers wanted to go to Cyprus.

Heavily armed security forces immediately surrounded the plane, and an emergency was declared at the airport, about 12 miles from this city. Shots were heard inside the plane and there were reports that three people had been wounded.

The identity of the hijackers could not immediately be determined, but one eyewitness reported hearing one of them speak in Urdu, Pakistan’s main language. Another report identified the gunmen as Arabs and said they were speaking English.

Civil Aviation Chairman Kurshid Anwar Mirza said he had been in contact with the hijackers and that the Pakistani government has agreed to fly them to Larnaka, Cyprus, providing all passengers are released.

“They say they have nothing against us (Pakistan) or anyone else,” Mirza said. Their only concern is to fly to Larnaka. . . . I have asked Pan Am to provide t6he crew to take them away. . . . “

41 Americans Aboard

The flight, Pan Am 073, flew from Bombay, India, to Karachi and had been scheduled to go on to Frankfurt, West Germany, and New York. Airline spokeswoman Pamela Hanlon said earlier in New York that about 280 passengers were on board with 11 flight attendants. The Pan Am office in Bombay said an estimated 41 Americans were among the passengers.

Local journalists said the plane was to board about 150 additional passengers here. But airport officials said the hijacking apparently took place in the course of boarding and that a last busload of passengers returned to the terminal.

The two injured airport workers, believed to be baggage loaders, were taken to a hospital while doctors and nurses were alerted and a dozen ambulances rushed to the airport.

Plane Cordoned Off

Hundreds of airport security personnel armed with machine guns, rifles and other arms cordoned off the aircraft. Two other airliners nearby were towed away and flights were diverted from the airport.

Pakistani army generals and top civilians officials were directing the security operation from the airport control tower.

The hijackers, wearing blue uniforms, drove out to the parked jet shortly after it landed, according to airport sources. They fired several shots in the air and then rushed up the stairs into the plane.

According to Associated Press, U.S. Consulate officials said they were in touch with the State Department in Washington but could give no further details.

“We are aware of the reports and are monitoring the situation,” AP quoted Peter Roussel, a White House spokesman in California with the vacationing President Reagan, as saying. “The President has been informed and is being kept updated on it by John Poindexter,” the White House national security adviser.

Pan Am’s manager at Karachi, Viraft Daroga, was on the tarmac negotiating with the gunmen through a megaphone.