LAHORE: The funeral prayers for the pilot and the flight purser of the ill-fated PIA plane that crashed in Karachi on Friday were offered at Lahore airport on Saturday.

Airbus A-320 that crashed into a residential area near Karachi airport a day ago left 97 people on board dead.

Two passengers survived the plane crash and are receiving treatment at hospitals.

“Bodies of Capt Sajjad Gul and Flight Purser Farid Chaudhry were brought here from Karachi on Saturday evening and funeral prayers were offered at the Lahore airport. Chief Commercial Officer Nosherwan Adil and District Manager Lahore Saleemullah Shahani were among a good number of PIA officials who offered the funeral prayers,” PIA Lahore spokesperson Athar Awan told Dawn.

He said the deceased would be laid to rest later on Saturday night at local graveyards.

Capt Sajjad Gul, who hailed from Lahore, had 24 years of service experience and 15,000 plus flying hours of the captain and 3,000 plus flying hours of the first officer respectively and was considered among the most experienced pilots of the airline.

He leaves behind a widow and three children.

Athar Awan said a four-member DNA expert team of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, also left for Karachi on Saturday to help identify the plane victims.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2020