One US citizen, 3 Rawalpindi based closed friend also died in PIA air crashed Karachi
By;Asghar Ali Mubarak
Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi based three closed friend Malik Zeeshan and Danish Shah included a Rawalpindi based Punjab Police Head Constable Asif Fayyaz all three deceased were the residents of Dhoke Chaudhrian Range Road Rawalpindi cantt ,who died in PIA plane crashed in Karachi. The ID card of deceased Danish Shah was found near a dead body. The sources said that Rawalpindi Punjab Police Chief Constable Asif Fayyaz and his two friends Malik Zeeshan and Danish Shah were going to Karachi for some domestic work. More over one US citizen was on board the flight that crashed in Karachi, Pakistan, an official State Department confirms to media.”We are monitoring the situation closely and are in touch with local authorities,” the official said. “Our staff in Pakistan and here in the United States are working tirelessly to provide all possible consular assistance.””We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of all of those affected. Out of respect for privacy, we have nothing further to add at this time.”The sources disclosed that US lady citizen namely Simon Eric included in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport. The dead body of US citizen still not identified, the sources added. The officials have said that 97 people have been confirmed dead, while two survived the crash, the survivors as Zubair and Zafar Masood, who is the president of Bank of Punjab. One US citizen was on board the flight that crashed in Karachi. An official of the State Department confirms to international media.”We are monitoring the situation closely and are in touch with local authorities,” the official said. “Our staff in Pakistan and here in the United States are working tirelessly to provide all possible consular assistance.””We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of all of those affected. Out of respect for privacy, we have nothing further to add at this time.” Mean while the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Saturday that the entire nation mourns over loss of precious human lives in Karachi plane crash.
It is tragic incident as most of the passengers who embraced martyrdom were on their way to home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with their families. Talking to media, he said it is top priority of the government to provide best medical facilities to the survivors. He said rescue activities are underway and relevant authorities are performing
their duties vigilantly.The Pakistani Foreign Minister said Pakistan International Airline (PIA) was in miserable condition during the tenure of previous governments, while the incumbent government took corrective measures for the betterment of the institution. He further said PIA is a national airline and there is always space for further improvement.The crash of a Pakistan International Airlines PIA jetliner PK 8303killed 97 out of the 99 people on board. One survivor, 24-year-old Mohammad Zubair, has spoken of his ordeal, as reports emerge about possible engine failure. The disaster came as Pakistanis across the country are preparing to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, with many traveling back to their homes in cities and villages. Many families had been on board the plane, hoping to reunite with loved ones for the Eid holidays. Authorities are now identifying and handing over bodies of the crash victims to their families.
Hailing from Waheedabad’s Gulbahar area, Waqas and his family lost their lives in the crash.
Their bereaved relatives said that Waqas, his wife Nida and son Aliyaan have already been identified, but two other children have not.
The relatives said that the deceased had been residing in Lahore for the past year.
The funeral prayers of the family were performed after Zuhar today, they added.
Another citizen, also from Karachi’s Bahadurabad area, was identified as Saleem Qadri. The deceased had gone to Lahore in relation to his work.
Qadri and his son, Osama, both died in the crash, according to their relatives.
The deceased’s relatives said that the bodies were not in a condition to be identified and would be matched by DNA.
Karachi’s Mohammad Bashir was among the victims of the plane crash, his family said. His body has not been identified as yet.
The family members said that the deceased left behind a widow and three children.
Dilshad Begum, a resident of Kharadar, also lost her life in the crash. Her body has been identified, said the son.
Dilshad Begum had gone to Lahore two months ago to meet her children.
Flight Steward Malik Irfan Dhillon’s family contacted the Edhi Foundation’s morgue for information regarding the deceased’s body.
One of his cousins said that they do not have any information about the body as yet and have given their blood samples for a DNA match.
The family members of other deceased plane crew will be brought to Karachi today.
The families of four crew members departed at 1pm from Lahore to Karachi.
It has been learnt that 48 other passengers, close relatives of the tragedy’s victims, are also coming to Karachi.
PIA has installed a counter at the Lahore airport to guide the bereaved families.
PIA Spokesperson Abdullah Khan said that the process of identification and handing over bodies to the families is underway.
Abdullah Khan said that according to the PIA laws, the families will get Rs500,000 in compensation.
Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan issued special directives as per which one million rupees per deceased person will be given for burial.
The spokesman said that the airline’s district managers will visit the homes of crash victims and pay for the burial process.
He said that 21 bodies have been identified so far.
According to Chhipa officials, six bodies have been handed over to the relatives of the deceased.
Officials said that the body of Mohammad Tahir was shifted to Model Colony, Balach’s to Gulshan-e-Hadeed while Farhan’s was taken to Ghotki.
He said that the bodies of crash victims Dilshad Begum and Riffat have been identified, adding that three bodies were handed over to the relatives.
The bodies of lieutenant Shaheer and Rehan Sheheryar were shifted to PNS Shifa today.
According to rescue officials, the body of flight’s captain Sajjad Gul has been identified and is at the Chhipa morgue.
Crash victim Mussarat Yar Khan’s sister said the body has not been identified so far and the DNA test has been done for matching.
She said that her brother was not physically and mentally well.
Another victim, Iqra Shahid from Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal, has been identified. Her brother said that she could not return to the city earlier due to the lockdown and was a student at a private university.
The Karachi-bound flight from Lahore had been seconds away from making an emergency landing at the Karachi airport when it crashed in the residential Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, right outside the airport’s boundary wall.
Ninety-nine were aboard the plane when it crashed into a narrow residential street, dealing significant damage to houses in a densely populated area. Thankfully, there were no deaths on the ground.Only two survived the crash — the chief executive of the Bank of Punjab and a young engineer.
Officials said that only 19 of the bodies have been identified. DNA testing was being carried out at the University of Karachi to help name the rest of the victims while recovery efforts at the scene continued through Saturday. A recording of the transmission of the pilot’s final exchange with air traffic control posted on the website LiveATC.net indicated the pilot had failed to land and was circling to make another attempt.
“We are proceeding direct, sir, we have lost engine,” the pilot said. “Sir, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday Pakistan 8303,” the pilot said before the transmission ended.
Meanwhile, PIA Chief Executive Arshad Mahmood Malik told reporters the plane was safe to fly. “Technically, operationally everything was in place,” he said.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan described pilot Sajjad Gul as the senior-most A320 pilot with extensive flight experience.
In a statement, Airbus said the plane had first entered service in 2004 and was acquired by PIA a decade later and had logged around 47,100 flight hours and 25,860 flights as of Friday.
Airworthiness documents showed the plane last received a government check on November 1 last year.PIA’s chief engineer signed a separate certificate April 28 saying all maintenance had been conducted. It noted: “the aircraft is fully airworthy and meets all the safety” standards.
Airworthiness documents showed the plane last received a government check on Nov 1, 2019.PIA’s chief engineer signed a separate certificate on April 28 saying all maintenance had been conducted on the plane and that “the aircraft is fully airworthy and meets all the safety” standards.
The Pakistan Airlines’ Pilots Association has demanded a thorough investigation into the crash and called for involving bodies including the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations in the probe, the media reported. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked and saddened” by the crash.
“Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased,” he tweeted. Pakistan resumed limited domestic flight operations last week, after a lengthy suspension due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 1,067 people in the South Asian nation, according to the government data. In 2016, Pakistan suffered its deadliest recent air crash, when all 47 people on board a PIA Embraeur ATR aircraft were killed when it crashed into a mountain en route from the northern town of Chitral to the capital Islamabad.
In 2010, the country saw its worst air disaster, with all 152 people on board an Air Blue passenger flight killed when the plane crashed into the hills just north of the capital Islamabad.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered an immediate inquiry into Friday’s crash.The country had only earlier this week resumed domestic flights ahead of the Eid-al Fitr holidays, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.Many of the passengers aboard the flight, were whole families returning home together for the Eid holiday.
The crash comes as a double blow to Pakistan, with many devastated families already organizing funerals for victims of COVID-19.