By Mahawish Rezvi and Chris Allbritton
ISLAMABAD, April 20 (Reuters) – A Pakistani airliner with
127 people on board crashed in bad weather as it came in to land
in Islamabad on Friday, scattering wreckage and leaving no sign
of survivors.
The Boeing 737, operated by local airline Bhoja Air, was
flying to the capital from Pakistan’s biggest city and business
hub Karachi. It crashed into wheat fields more than 5 miles
(about 9 km) from the airport.
Rawal Khan Maitla, director general of Emergency Disaster
Management for the Capital Development Authority, said there
were no survivors.
Rescue workers walked through mud at the crash site with
flashlights or with the lights of their cellphones looking for
passengers’ remains. One held up a tattered e-ticket receipt.
Body parts, wallets and eyeglasses lay among wreckage strewn
in a small settlement just outside Islamabad.
“It was as if the entire sky had burst into flames,” said a
resident of the area.
Parts of the aircraft smashed into electricity poles,
blanketing the area in darkness, or into houses. There were no
reports of casualties on the ground.
Bhoja Air said the airplane crashed during its approach in
Islamabad due to bad weather. There was no indication from the
government that it could have been the result of foul play.
A man who had been waiting at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto
International Airport for the flight yelled “my two daughters
are dead” as tears streamed down his face.
In a state of shock, he then slumped on the floor and sat
silently as other relatives of passengers crowded around lists
of those on board.
The uncle of the sisters, 18 and 20, said they were supposed
to return to Islamabad on Sunday but flew early to see an aunt
who is visiting from London.
“We don’t even know when or where we will get to see their
bodies,” said the uncle, Qamar Abbas, who kept mumbling “no, no,
no” to himself.
HEADED FOR HONEYMOON
When Sajjad Rizvi and Sania Abbas boarded the flight, they
were looking forward to their honeymoon in a hill resort near
Islamabad. “We had a joint wedding on March 28,” said Sania’s
brother Zeeshan at the airport.
Nearby, relatives of passengers hugged each other and
sobbed. One man cried “my kids, my kids”.
The last major aviation accident in Pakistan was in July
2010, when a commercial airliner operated by AirBlue with 152
people on board crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad.
In 2006, a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed
near the central city of Multan, killing 45 people.
State television reported that all hospitals in Islamabad
and the nearby city of Rawalpindi had been put on high alert
after Friday’s crash.
At the capital’s main hospital, rescue workers brought in
remains of the passengers placed under white sheets soaked in
blood.
“Two years later the same story is being repeated in my
house again,” said Nasreen Mubasher, who was at the hospital
waiting for the remains of her brother-in-law, who was a
passenger. Another brother-in-law died in the AirBlue crash.
As the police struggled to keep order, trying to keep the
distraught calm and television cameras away, Mohammad Nasir
hoped somehow that his brother’s body would be intact despite
the horrific force of the crash.
He approached other relatives of passengers and hospital
workers. He kept asking “have you seen any whole bodies?”
The Boeing Company said in a statement on its website that
it “wishes to extend its profound condolences to the families
and friends” of the Bhoja Air passengers.
At Karachi airport, Asim Hashmi complained the airline’s
counter was shut and he had no way of obtaining information on
his aunt and cousin, who were on flight B4-213.
“We don’t know anything,” he said. “Just pray for the souls
of the departed. That is all we can do now.”
