97
A day after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took notice of a suspected promotional video featuring a Polish tourist dancing in and around a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft ─ allegedly made by the airline ─ the national flag carrier denied any involvement in the incident.
A video showing Polish tourist and travel blogger Eva Bianka Zubeck performing the popular 'Kiki Challenge' in and outside a PIA aircraft went viral on social media on Monday.
Social media users across the globe over the last few weeks have been sharing videos, using the hashtag #KikiChallenge, which typically consist of jumping out of a moving vehicle and dancing along to the song "In My Feelings" by Canadian singer Drake.
Read: This travel blogger did the Kiki Challenge on a PIA aircraft and Pakistanis are lauding her
The NAB took notice of the video as it believed that the woman had not only disgraced the national flag by wrapping it around her body but also violated the security codes of national airlines and the airport.
"We want to know who allowed the woman to go into an empty aircraft and dance at the airport," the NAB spokesman earlier told Dawn, adding that the watchdog would send an official letter to PIA on Aug 15 seeking the management's point of view on the issue.
"We want to ascertain that who had permitted the women to freely move into a highly-secured runway of the airport," he said.
NAB also ordered probe against PIA for allegedly disgracing the flag and misuse of authority, and against those who had allowed the woman to enter the runway and the plane.
The issue escalated quickly ─ so much so that Zubeck had to issue a clarification within hours of posting the video.
PIA Spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar in a statement today said, "PIA denies any involvement in the video of a foreigner girl dancing. This video was shared on PIA's page but now has been deleted."
"An inquiry has been constituted in this regard," he added.
The spokesperson added that an event was held at PIA Head Office to celebrate Independence Day, to which the media had also been invited.
It is pertinent to mention that the national flag carrier had earlier announced a collaboration with the Polish woman for making the Independence Day video.
