Passengers of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) ill-fated PK-8303 were less than 10 seconds away from touching the runway and seeing their loved ones, when their plane fell on houses of the Jinnah Garden in Model Colony on Friday afternoon. thenews.com.pk/print/662666-t…
The information board at the Jinnah International Airport’s arrival lounge on Friday afternoon said that the PIA’s A-320 aircraft had landed. Newly-married Almeena Mustufa was coming back from Lahore for the first time after her marriage.
All her brothers and cousins were at the airport to receive her. All of a sudden there was some unrest at the arrival lounge and everyone rushed towards the TV screen.
The officials of the Civil Aviation Authority told us that there has been a plane crash,” said her cousin Ikram who was waiting for some information, just before iftaar on Friday, at the Airport Hotel where the PIA has established a help desk
One help desk was created at the the Airport Hotel, where arrangements were made for all the family members of the passengers in a big hall. Everyone was quiet inside the hall. A small TV was placed at the front.
“There are two survivors as of now,” Sindh’s healthminister Azra Pechuho was heard saying on the TV and everyone in the hall glued their eyes on the TV, a few started praying on prayer beads rigorously. As the presser ended, there were tears in the eyes of most the family members
She was coming back alone after nine-months to celebrate Eid with us,” said Mustufa’s cousin who had come from Jafar-e-Tayyar Society in Malir. After Eid, she was to go to the UK with her husband. Her old father could hardly swallow a date at iftaar as he continued to sob.
With visible signs of anxiety, Irshad Hameed’s two sisters and a nephew entered the hall after iftaar. “Why do they [PIA] run their planes, when everyone knows that they end up crashing?” yelled one of the sisters. Hameed was one of the passengers of the plane.
