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| July 10, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 13, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates
All 45 on board Flight PK-688
die in Multan plane crash MULTAN, Pakistan, July 10 (AP)
A Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane crashed soon after takeoff on
a domestic flight Monday on the outskirts of Multan city, and all 45 people on
board were killed, officials said. The Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft slammed
into a wheat field about three kilometres from Multan airport two or three
minutes after takeoff for Lahore, spiralling in the air before it hit the ground
and burst into flames, witnesses said. ``All 41 passengers and four crew members
on board the plane have died,'' said Iftikhar Babar, the district coordination
officer for Multan. Malik Bashir, PIA's station manager at Multan airport,
confirmed there were no survivors. He said the cause of the crash was not yet
known, but ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack on the state's
carrier's plane. A female flight attendant who was pulled alive from the plane's
wreckage died later at a hospital, an airline security official said. A PIA
emergency department official said the dead passengers were 33 men and eight
women, all Pakistani nationals. They included two army brigadiers, two judges of
the High Court in Lahore and the head of a state-run university in Multan. Two
male pilots and two air hostesses also died, he said. President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf expressed grief over the crash and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered
an investigation to determine the cause, the state-run Pakistan Television
reported. Bashir said flight PK-688 took off normally on a flight to Lahore at
around 12:05 p.m. ``Whatever happened to it was after takeoff,'' he said, adding
``the plane has burned completely.'' Plane debris, newspapers, cold drink
bottles and clothes littered the crash site. Emergency workers wore face masks
to protect against thick black smoke and the smell of burning oil and flesh.
After fire-fighters doused the fire, rescuers pulled bodies from the smouldering
wreckage. The fire left the plane's fuselage a blackened hulk and its seared
tail lay on its side. Fifteen bodies were recovered and taken to the morgue at
state-run Nishtar Hospital in Multan, said a doctor with Edhi Foundation. About
500 relatives of the dead gathered at the hospital to claim the bodies of loved
ones for burial. Grieving women wept in anguish and beat their chests as they
attempted to identify bodies from clothing and other belongings. At least five
bodies have been claimed by relatives but many were burned beyond recognition,
said Dr. Gul Nawaz. Mohammed Nadeem, a jeweler who lives near the crash site,
said the plane was rotating sideways in the air before it hit the ground and
went up in flames. Another witness said the plane hit the ground with a huge
thud and its wreckage caught fire and caused a fire at a nearby power line.
``The plane begin to come down abruptly. Then it hit the ground. Then there were
flames and dust,'' said Arshad Gujjar, 35, who had been cutting a tree in a
nearby orchard. At least eight fire trucks helped put out the blazing wreckage.
(First Posted @ 13:10 PST; Updated @ 20:18 PST)
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Two Lahore High Court judges among dead in PIA Fokker crash ISLAMABAD, July 10 (APP): President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Muhammad Qayyum Malik and others office bearers of the Association on Monday expressed grief and sorrow over the death of two judges of the Lahore High Court, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Bhatti and Justice Nazir Siddiqui, in Monday’s PIA Fokker crash. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
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Names of passengers and crew killed in Multan plane crash MULTAN, July 10 (APP): Following are the names of the 45 people who died in the Multan Fokker plane crash on Monday: 1- Abdur Rehman, 2- Aftab Hussain Khan, 3- Ahmad Ejaz, 4- Aijaz Ali (Staff), 5- Arshad Azad, 6- Asmatullah Khan (Staff), 7- Imtiaz Anwar, 8- Ishfaq Ahmad, 9- Mrs Kanwal Iqbal, 10- Malik Saeed A., 11- Mirza Arshad Beig, 12- Muhammad Irfan, 13- Muhammad Murtaza , 14- Dr. Raja Iftikhar Ali, 15- Saleem Shah (Staff), 16- Ms Samina Mushtaq, 17- Sakhi Muhammad, 18- Dr. Suhail Ahmad, 19- Waseem Ahmad, 20- Zia Haidar, 21- Dr. Abdur Rauf, 22- Brig. Aftab Ahmad, 23- Ali Imran, 24- Altaf Hussain, 25- Anjum, 26- Ms Eish, 27- Brig. Farhat Sabir, 28- Dr. Farheen Fatima, 29- Dr. Farzana Kausar, 30- Habib, 31- Husnain/Mrs. Captain, 32- Dr. Humera Ashraf, 33- Muhammad Aslam Shad, 34- Muhammad Arshad Latif, 35- Muhammad Islam Gill, 36- Muhammad Naeem Mughal, 37- Justice Muhammad Nawaz Bhatti, 38- Justice Nazir Ahmad Siddiqui, 39- Captain Naveed Tariq, 40- Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naseer Khan, 41- Ms Tehseen Zahra, 42- Captain Hamid (Pilot), 43- Abrar Chughtai (first officer), 44- Tabana Jamil (Air Hostess), 45- Aamira Sikandar Azeem (Air Hostess). (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
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Board of inquiry formed to probe plane crash KARACHI, Jul 10 (APP) Director General, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), has formed a Board of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the PIA Fokker flight PK-688 plane crash on Monday. The Investigation team headed by President SIB, Air CDRE M.Junaid Ameen, and WG.CDR (R) Syed Naseem Ahmed, Tech. Investigator SIB have proceeded to the crash site along with Capt. Shahnawaz Dara, SVP flight Safety and PIAC. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
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