Survivor recalls horror of Pakistan plane crash that killed 97
23 May, 2020
One of the two persons to survive a plane crash in Pakistan that killed 97 persons 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 (May 22) afternoon after both engines failed since it approached Karachi airport, the airline said.
Its wings sliced through rooftops, sending flames and plumes of smoke in to the air as it crashed onto a street, sparking a rescue procedure that lasted into the night.
Commercial flights in the united states resumed only days ago, ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, after planes were grounded throughout a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.
"After it hit and I regained conciousness, I saw fire everywhere and no person was visible," Mohammad Zubair, 24, said from his hospital bed in a online video circulated on social media.
"There have been cries of children, adults and elderly. The cries were everywhere and every person 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 well balanced condition, a health ministry official said.
The airline named the other survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab, Zafar Masud.
Medical ministry for Sindh province, where in fact the southern port city of Karachi is located, on Saturday confirmed that all 97 bodies recovered from the crash site have been on the plane.
At least 19 have been identified so far, while DNA testing had been carried out at the University of Karachi to help name all of those other victims.
An area hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of folks killed on the floor.
The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate the finish of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid, with many travelling to their homes in cities and villages.
MAYDAY CALL
A PIA spokesperson said air traffic control lost contact with the plane travelling from Lahore to Karachi just after 2.30pm (0930 GMT).
The pilot made a desperate mayday call after announcing "we've lost engines", according to an sound 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 set up," he said, promising a study.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the captain, Sajjad Gull, have been described by the airline as a senior A320 pilot with considerable 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 were the first ever to sift through the charred and twisted wreckage strewn searching for survivors, with witnesses reporting the cries of a man hanging from the plane's emergency exit door.
Sarfraz Ahmed, a firefighter at the crash site, told AFP that rescuers had pulled bodies from the aircraft still wearing seatbelts.
Residents close to the scene recounted the way the walls of their homes shook before a major explosion erupted as the aircraft slammed in to the neighbourhood.
"I was from the mosque when I saw the plane tilting using one side. It was so low that the walls of my house were trembling," said 14-year-old Hassan.
Another resident, Mudassar Ali, said he "heard a large bang and woke up to persons calling for the fire brigade".
An AFP reporter saw charred bodies being loaded into ambulances.
"SHOCKED AND SADDENED"
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was "shocked and saddened" by the crash, tweeting that he was touching the state-owned airline's leader.
"Prayers & condolences head to families of the deceased," he wrote on Twitter.
The Pakistan military said security forces were deployed to the region and helicopters were used to survey the damage.
Pakistan includes 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 a lot more than 40 people.
The deadliest air disaster on Pakistani soil was this year 2010 when an Airbus A321 operated by private airline Airblue and flying from Karachi crashed in to the hills outside Islamabad as it came directly into land, killing all 152 people on board.
The official report blamed the accident on a confused captain and a hostile cockpit atmosphere.
PIA, a leading airline before 1970s, has seen its reputation sink due to frequent cancellations, delays and financial troubles.
It has been involved with numerous controversies through the years, like the jailing of a drunk pilot in Britain in 2013.
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