There’s no Eid in our home.
COUPLE WHO HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR 54 YEARS WERE AMONG THE 97 KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
As Fazal Rahmaan, 80 and his wife, Wahida Rahmaan, 74, boarded a plane in Lahore on Friday, their family’s biggest fear was that they might catch the coronavirus on their way to spend the holiday in Karachi.
Instead the couple, who had been married for 54 years, were among the 97 people killed when an Airbus A320, operated by Pakistan International Airlines, crashed into a Karachi neighbourhood.
“We held many calls deliberating with doctors and family ... Our biggest concern was that they made the trip safely,” said their son, Inam Ur Rahmaan, who instead of welcoming his parents for the Eid Al Fitr holiday found himself picking through the wreckage of flight PK8303 praying for a miracle.
‘It would be miracle’
“I got in my car and followed the smoke and the ambulances,” said Rahmaan. “When I saw the area, I realised that it would be a miracle if they had made it.”
There were two survivors from on-board the aircraft. More than two dozen homes were damaged as the airliner roared in, leaving a tangle of severed electric cables and exposed rebar — a broken wing rested against the side of a home, an engine on the ground nearby.
One rescue worker told Reuters two bodies were found with oxygen masks on.
‘It was a nightmare’
Shahid Ahmad, 45, was at the airport waiting for his mother to arrive. When he reached the crash site he saw rescuers retrieving bodies and people taking selfies.
“There was no one responsible at the site, people were busy posing for pictures,” said a distraught Ahmad, who lost his mother, Dilshad Begum, 75, who was also flying to Karachi for Eid. After scouring the site and failing to find his mother, Ahmad went to look for her in hospitals.
“There was no list of the dead or injured at any of the hospitals, it was all chaos and mismanagement,” said Ahmad, who sobbed as he recounted the ordeal.
“Searching for our mother’s body was a nightmare.” One of the survivors, engineer Mohammad Zubair, told Geo News the pilot came down to land, briefly touched down, then pulled up again. He announced he was going to make to make a second try shortly before the plane crashed, Zubair said.
Screams from all directions
“I could hear screams from all directions. Kids and adults. All I could see was fire. I couldn’t see any people just hear their screams,” he said.
Rahmaan said his family was still in shock. “There’s no Eid in our home,” he said.
Rahmaan said he took some comfort from knowing his parents always wanted to be with each other.
“Whatever’s happened, whatever the reason behind it, they always wanted to be together. At the end, they were together.”
Whatever’s happened, whatever the reason behind it, they always wanted to be together. At the end, they were together.”
Inam Ur Rahmaan | Son of the couple who were killed in the crash