Pakistan bank CEO among 2 survivors
PLANE CRASH At least 45 bodies were recovered till late on Friday
KARACHI: The head of Pakistan’s Bank of Punjab was among two passengers who miraculously survived after a PIA plane carrying 99 people crashed on Friday in a crowded residential area of this port city.
Bank of Punjab Chief Executive Officer Zafar Masud was among the 91 persons travelling in Karachi-bound PIA flight PK-8303 from Lahore, which crashed near the Jinnah International Airport minutes before landing, the Geo News reported.
Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar initially said all aboard died, but two civil aviation officials later said that at least two people survived the crash.
It is still too early to say if there are more survivors from the tragedy, as the update has offered a glimmer of hope to rescue teams racing to save as many souls as they can. The rescue officials have so far recovered at least 45 dead bodies.
The BOP president has been shifted to the Darul Sehat Hospiing tal after being recovered from the crash site and is reportedly out of danger, the report said.
He spoke to his mother on the phone and informed her about his health.
Masud sustained fractures to his hip and collar bones, the Darul Sehat Hospital’s administration said, adding that there were no burn marks on his body, only scratches.
According to the hospital administration, Masud’s CT scan has been done and his condition is out of danger. Masud’s brother is with him in the hospital.
Meanwhile, another survivor has been confirmed by the channel. Sindh government spokesperson Barrister Murtaza Wahab later confirmed that there are two people who have miraculously survived the crash.
The other survivor has been identified as Mohammad Zubair.
The survivor of the plane crash also gave a statement in which he said that the plane started wobbling as it approached the Karachi airport. “The next moment there was a hard crash and I lost consciousness,” said Zubair, add
that when he woke up there was ‘smoke everywhere’.
The hospital administration said that Zubair faced minor injuries and is currently under treatment at the burns ward. Reports indicated that the plane’s tail-end hit the ground first and that anyone who survived was seated in the front portion.
The pilot of Pakistani International Airlines Flight 8303 was heard transmitting a ‘May Day’ to the tower shortly before the crash of the Airbus A320, which was flying from Lahore to Karachi. Video on social media appeared to show the jet flying low over a residential area with flames shooting from one of its engines.
The plane came to rest about 2:39 pm in a narrow alley in the poor and congested residential area known as Model Colony between houses smashed by its wings. Police in protective masks struggled to clear away crowds amid the smoke and dust so ambulances and firetrucks could reach the crash site. As darkness fell, crews worked under floodlights to recover bodies and a portable morgue was set up.