‘All I could see was fire’
2 survive Pakistan plane crash
A miracle survivor of the Pakistan plane crash that left 97 dead saw fire everywhere and heard nothing but screams when he finally regained consciousness and bolted to safety.
Muhammad Zubair, a 24-yearold mechanical engineer, recounted his story to the BBC, describing in detail how the Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 hurtled down from the sky into a residential neighborhood Friday afternoon.
“I could hear screams from all directions,” Zubair said in a video filmed from his hospital bed. “Kids and adults. All I could see was fire. I couldn’t see any people — just hear their screams.
“I opened my seat belt and saw some light — I went towards the light,” he added. “I had to jump down about 10 feet to get to safety.”
As residents shrieked in horror, the plane plowed into their homes, destroying or damaging almost 20, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The crash sent up a fireball that could be seen for miles. Late in the evening, an emergency worker pulled a baby from the rubble — alive.
Just one other person on board the Lahore-to-Karachi Flight PK8303 survived: Zafar Masood, president of the Bank of Punjab.
Zubair and Masood were in seats 10C and 1C, respectively. Zubair was hospitalized with minor injuries. Masood suffered fractures but was “conscious and responding well” in the hospital, according to the Daily Mail.
A news crew filmed Masood being pulled from the wreckage.
“Thank you so much,” he said to officials at the hospital. “God has been merciful.”
One of the dead was Zara Abid, a Pakistani model and Instagram influencer, according to reports.
Many of the victims — both in the plane and on the ground — were charred beyond recognition, forcing officials to identify them using DNA tests, The New York Times reported.
Seconds before the crash, the pilot told air-traffic controllers he had lost power in both engines, Reuters reported.
The plane carried 91 passengers, many families traveling ahead of Sunday’s Eid al-Fitr holiday, and eight crew members.
The pilot was attempting to land at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at about 2:30 p.m. when the plane came down. He made one try before the airliner crashed 10 minutes later, Zubair told the BBC. Pakistani officials are reviewing data from the plane’s flight recorder, which they recovered late Friday.
Passengers, according to Zubair, had no idea the plane was in trouble.
“No one was aware that the plane was about to crash; they were flying the plane in a smooth manner,” he said.