MULTAN: Two persons were killed and about 25 wounded when Police opened fire in clashes with angry mobs at two points in the city this morning [Sept 2] during public demonstration of resentment over the death of a vendor, allegedly due to Police beating. Army has been called out to assist the civil administration, and Section 144 has been imposed in the City and Cantonment areas….

[Meanwhile, as reported by an agency in Rawalpindi,] The PIA Fokker Friendship aircraft, which crashed near Rawalpindi last month, was not hit by lightning, according to the interim inquiry report submitted by the committee appointed by the Government to investigate the causes of the tragic crash. The summary of the report was released to the Press today [Sept 2] through a Press note issued by the Ministry of Defence.

The report also discounted the possibility of mid-air explosion and said that the aircraft hit the ground in one piece while heading back to Chaklala, but also ruled out the possibility of “in flight fire”…. The report did not mention the possible causes of the crash. It said the actual weather at Rawalpindi was fair, but there were scattered thunderstorms 20 miles around Rawalpindi.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2020