KARACHI, May 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – One of the two people to survive
a plane crash in Pakistan that killed 97 people has described jumping
from the burning wreckage of the aircraft after it hurtled into a
residential neighbourhood.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among
houses on Friday after both engines failed as it approached Karachi
airport, the airline said.
Its wings sliced through rooftops, sending flames and plumes of
smoke into the air as it crashed onto a street, sparking a rescue
operation that lasted into the night.
Commercial flights in the country resumed only days ago, ahead of
the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, after planes were grounded during a
lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.
“After it hit and I regained conciousness, I saw fire everywhere and
no one was visible,” Mohammad Zubair, 24, said from his hospital bed
in a video clip circulated on social media.
“The cries were everywhere and everybody was trying to survive. I
undid my seat belt and I saw some light and tried to walk towards it.
Then I jumped out.”
Zubair had suffered burns but was in a stable condition, a health
ministry official said.
The airline named the other survivor as the president of the Bank of
Punjab, Zafar Masud.
The health ministry for Sindh province, where the southern port city
of Karachi is located, on Saturday confirmed that the 97 bodies
recovered from the crash site had been on the plane.
At least 19 had been identified so far, while DNA testing was being
carried out at the University of Karachi to help name the rest of the
victims.
A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of
people killed on the ground.
The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate the end of the
Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid, with many
travelling to their homes in cities and villages.
“Eid has become meaningless not only for Karachi but the whole of
Pakistan,” said Zia ul Huq Qamar, who lives near the crash site.
Several members of the armed forces who were flying home to their
families to celebrate the holiday were among the dead, the military
said.
Shahbaz Hussain said his mother, who was also among the victims, had
been flying back to Karachi after becoming stranded by the lockdown in
Lahore while visiting her daughters.
– Mayday call –
A PIA spokesperson said air traffic control lost contact with the
plane travelling from Lahore to Karachi just after 2:30 pm (0930 GMT).
The pilot made a desperate mayday call after announcing “we have
lost engines”, according to an audio recording confirmed by the
airline.
PIA chief executive Arshad Mahmood Malik described the Airbus A320
as one of the safest planes.
“Technically, operationally everything was in place,” he said,
promising an investigation.
On board the aircraft were 91 passengers, six cabin crew and two pilots.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the captain, Sajjad Gull,
had been described by the airline as a senior A320 pilot with
extensive flight experience.
The plane had first entered service in 2004 and was acquired by PIA
a decade later and had logged around 47,100 flight hours, Airbus said
in a statement.
Residents near the scene recounted how the walls of their homes
shook before a big explosion erupted as the aircraft slammed into the
neighbourhood.
They were the first to sift through the charred and twisted wreckage
strewn in search of survivors, with witnesses reporting the cries of a
man hanging from the plane’s emergency exit door.
– ‘Shocked and saddened’ –
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked and
saddened” by the crash.
Pakistan has a chequered military and civilian aviation safety
record, with frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years.
In 2016, a PIA plane burst into flames after one of its two
turboprop engines failed while flying from the remote north to
Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.
The deadliest air disaster on Pakistani soil was in 2010 when an
Airbus A321 operated by private airline Airblue and flying from
Karachi crashed into the hills outside Islamabad as it came in to
land, killing all 152 people on board.
An official report blamed the accident on a confused captain and a
hostile cockpit atmosphere.
PIA, a leading airline until the 1970s, has seen its reputation sink
due to frequent cancellations, delays and financial troubles.