Pretoria — President Jacob Zuma has offered his deepest condolences to the families of the 152 people who were killed in a Pakistani airline crash on Wednesday.

In his message, Zuma conveyed to President Asif Ali Zardari his profound condolences for the victims and sincere regards to the families of those killed in the horror plane crash.

"On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of South Africa we reach out in thoughts and prayers to the government and the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in particular those families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy," said Zuma.

In one of the worst air disasters in Pakistan in recent times, a private passenger jet crashed into Margalla Hills overlooking Islamabad in heavy rain and poor visibility on Wednesday.

Rescue teams have recovered most of the bodies but are still searching for others at the rough terrain Margallah Hills, in the north of Islamabad.

The rescue and relief efforts were abandoned late last night due to low visibility and the teams were on way to the crash site Thursday morning but heavy rains stopped them.

Officials are still searching for the plane's black box.

Some 105 mutilated bodies had been shifted to the Islamabad's main hospital and identification process is underway. Health officials said that nearly 50 bodies have been identified and handed over to the relatives.