DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two air force officers were killed when an aircraft crashed near Indus Highway here on Wednesday.

Officials said the Mirage aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed in Chirra Mainer area due to a technical fault and bad weather, leaving Air Commodore Shafqat and Flight Lieutenant Sohaib dead.

A joint team of the army and police collected body parts of the deceased officers, says a PAF statement.

Sources said the aircraft was on a routine flight from Rafiqi airbase in Shorkot area of Jhang district when it crashed because of lightning. The bodies were airlifted to the airbase.

They said the rescue work could not be immediately carried out due to absence of rescue service in the district.

Local journalists complained that on the directive of the district police officer (DPO), police snatched cell phones of reporters covering the event. They were told to collect the phones from the DPO office on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2015

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