Pakistan

Yet another sad news! A passenger plane of a private company crashed this forenoon in Margalla Hills, North of Islamabad. The plane was about to land at Islamabad airport. It took off from Karachi about a couple of hours earlier, around 0800 hours. It carried 150 plus passengers including the air crew. All of them are reported to have died with their bodies scattered all over the inaccessible Margalla Hills. Over a hundred bodies have been recovered. The black box of the plane has also been found out.

The plane is reported to be flying in No Fly Zone. Soon after the crash, Federal Home Minister made an irresponsible statement that five passengers had been found alive and evacuated to the hospitals. Later, the statement was found to be baseless and the minister had to correct it. A cabinet meeting was in progress which was called off on hearing the news of the plane crash. The Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and the Defense Minister opted to fly in the same helicopter over the scene of the accident. The pilot of the plane is reported to have reached Karachi this morning flying another plane from Turkey. He was over 65. An inquiry has been ordered which like all other such like inquiries is not likely to be made public.

The response of the nation was very positive. A number of residents individually and also as part of various organization collectively immediately moved to the scene of the crash and put in their bit to evacuate the dead bodies and search for the survivors. Helicopters, too, were there on the scene within minutes and played a major role in rescue operations. However, there was lack of coordination among various agencies while undertaking the rescue operations.