At least 80 bodies retrieved from site of Pakistan plane crash

At least 80 bodies have been recovered from the site of a plane crash in a residential area in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Flight PK 8303, carrying at least 98 people, crashed on Friday, sparking an explosion and also killing a number of people on the ground.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Meeran Yousuf confirmed that 80 people have died, with 48 bodies kept at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi's largest government hospital, and 32 at Civil Hospital Karachi, another major state-run hospital.

Yousuf said two survivors were being treated at the hospitals in Karachi, while 17 bodies have been identified so far.

An emergency was declared in all of the city's hospitals, already reeling from a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus, provincial health minister Azra Pechucho told reporters.

"We are doing DNA testing of the dead bodies so that they can be identified and they can be given to their families," she said.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320, was en route from Lahore to Karachi when it went down.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said there had been 91 passengers and seven crew on board, but an aviation authority spokesperson put the number of the crew at eight.

Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah said the aircraft had developed a technical fault, adding that the pilot issued a mayday call after the plane lost an engine.

Hafeez had said the pilot had reported “some technical problem” in his last communication with traffic control.

“He was told from the final approach that both the runways were ready where he can land, but the pilot decided that he wanted to do (a) go-round… It is a very tragic incident,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, the Pakistani military said its quick reaction force and paramilitary troops had been deployed to the scene to join civil administration bodies for rescue operations.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked & saddened by the PIA crash,” adding that he was “in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi & with the rescue & relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now.”

“Immediate inquiry will be instituted,” Khan tweeted.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also offered condolences to Pakistan over the incident. Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi expressed sympathy with Pakistan’s government, nation, and the families of the victims.

The crash comes only days after commercial flights resumed in Pakistan following the grounding of planes during the coronavirus lockdown.

Pakistan has witnessed frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years. The country’s most recent deadly crash took place in 2016, killing 47 people. The worst air disaster came in 2010, when an Airbus A321 operated by private airline Airblue crashed near Islamabad, claiming the lives of all the 152 people on board.

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