ISLAMABAD: Bodies of the crew on board PIA flight PK-661, which crashed in Havelian en route Chitral to Islamabad on Dec 7, may be exhumed after the district health officer wrote a letter to Pims, suggesting their graves should be dug up.

The letter written by Dr Najeeb Durrani and available with Dawn suggests the bodies of the crew should be exhumed to determine if any of them were taking drugs and that doing so was a requirement of the investigation board.

The letter also explains that the procedure for the exhumation of bodies is detailed in the rules and says that the directions were given by the senior joint director medical, Civil Aviation Authority at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport through the deputy commissioner.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Durrani said sending the letter was part of the standard operating procedures and was routine in all air crash investigations.

Pims Administrator Dr Altaf Hussein said he received the letter on Monday and that the hospital administration already has samples from the crew members which can be used to test for drugs.

This will be done after orders are received from the deputy commissioner as orders of exhuming a body can only be given by him,” he said.

All the passengers on board PK-661 were killed when it crashed, including 31 men, nine women, two infants and five crew members.

Published in Dawn January 17th, 2017