KARACHI: While an inquiry committee set up by the federal government to ascertain causes of the death of seven airport workers has not put the blame on any individual or institution, it has found that the rescue and emergency agencies are incapable of handling ‘such sort of exceptional circumstances’ and recommended to the authorities to set up a ‘designated department for handling emergencies of this sort’, it emerged on Tuesday.

A three-page report of the inquiry committee, headed by Air Commodore Noor Elahi Bajwa and comprising Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) chief Ahmed Chinoy and senior Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official Bashir Jan Mohammad, which was recently released to the media, identified weak areas of the rescue operation.

The committee said the loss would have been ‘much more’ if the security agencies such as Airport Security Force (ASF), police, Rangers and army personnel had not played their role in time and effectively.

Recognising efforts of the security and rescue agencies, the committee, however, during its days-long exercises and investigation found the equipment by workers of the fire department and other institutions concerned much below the required standard to handle the crisis of that magnitude.

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“The committee intends to highlight here that though efforts were made by all the agencies like ASF, firefighters and the CAA, they were not equipped to handle such sort of exceptional circumstances which prevailed not only in Karachi but throughout the country,” stated the committee report.

“The committee noted though [the] airport was already under threat, on the contrary the authorities and cargo handling agents were neither trained nor equipped to handle such emergencies unlike modern airports of the developed countries.”

The committee in its report claimed to have suggested ‘pertinent measures’ to the government to avoid such incidents in future, the report released to the media did not carry any one of them.

The report sought a ‘designated department’ for handling emergencies such as the one emerging after the attack by militants on the Karachi airport in June.

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“The committee finally concludes that there should be a designated department for handling emergencies of this sort and help create preconditions favourable for the safety of personnel and infrastructure,” said the report. “The committee hopes that government and authority concerned will implement these guidelines to avoid such incidents as the country is already in a war-like situation and undergoing difficult time. The committee also hopes that all departments and authorities concerned would play their role more effectively to avoid recurrence of this nature.”

Mr Chinoy, the CPLC chief and one of the three members of the committee, said the June 8 episode should prove a wake-up call as the situation prevailing amid the ongoing terrorism threat required a much better plan to meet the post-incident challenges.

“One should understand that the magnitude of the fire that gripped the airport facilities after the attack was beyond imagination and anyone’s control,” he said.

“It’s out of question to bring our machinery and other equipment in use where the temperature was touching 8,000 degrees Celsius. But considering the situation our rescue agencies face we must prepare ourselves before any other tragedy. It’s the need of the hour.”

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2014