Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah has assured that a transparent investigation will be conducted into Karachi plane crash as per the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He made the remarks during his visit to the residence of late pilot Sajjad Gul in Lahore where he condoled with the bereaved family.
The minister said the country lost national assets in the form of precious lives in the plane crash. He said the death of Captain Sajjad Gul is a major loss not only to the PIA but the entire country.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board has started investigation into the plane crash.
According to the spokesperson of PIA, the investigation team has started process of collecting evidences from the site of crash to ascertain the cause of the crash.
He said out of 97 dead bodies of the crash victims, 41 have been handed over to their relatives for burial while identification process of the rest of the dead bodies is underway.
The spokesperson said survey has also been initiated to assess the damage caused to houses, vehicles and other property for compensation purposes.
The PIA spokesman said that the prime minister wants utmost transparency into the investigations of plane crash and will not allow any group or organisation to influence the probe.
In a statement, he said the prime minister also wishes to have compiled the investigation report in shortest possible time and made the findings public to fix the responsibility of loss of precious human lives.
He said the Prime Minister believes that the entire nation is in a state of shock and in such a situation, manoeuvring to safeguard personal interests is tantamount to rub salt on the wounds of bereaved families.
The PIA spokesperson urged the public to stay away from the evils of self-styled experts and rioters and not to believe the fake news spread on social media. An investigative 11-member team of French experts visited the crash site of PIA flight PK-8303 yesterday to ascertain the causes of the incident.
On this occasion, officials of Aircraft Accident Investigation Board gave a detailed briefing to the team.
DNA samples of 52 victims collected
The Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) collected DNA samples of 52 victims of the ill-fated PK8303 flight, a day after Sindh government refused to let the agency
collect them.
PFSA director general Muhamed Tahir Ashraf confirmed that the agency had collected DNA samples from Karachi and returned to Lahore.
“DNA samples of 52 deceased individuals and their families have been obtained,” he confirmed. “We will start releasing DNA reports after Wednesday.”
On the other hand, Sindh Forensic and DNA Laboratory Karachi University said that samples from 67 victims of the PIA plane crash have been provided by their families.
The PFSA had reached Karachi to obtain DNA samples after orders from the Punjab
government on Saturday
Minister for Health and Population Welfare Azra Fazal Pechuho had said that Sindh had its own Forensic/Genome Lab at Karachi University where the DNA sampling of all the unidentified plane crash victims will take place.
“We also have a lab at Liaquat University Jamshoro,” Pechuho had said.
She said that the team that arrived from Punjab had come to investigate the aircraft specifics, not the bodies.
“Sindh is capable of conducting the DNA sampling and the Governor [Imran Ismail] should not politicise such a tragedy by giving out statements without having complete knowledge,” she said.
The PIA Airbus A-320 jet with 99 people onboard, of whom two miraculously survived, had crashed into a crowded residential area after twice trying to land at the airport on Friday. The actual reason for the crash remains unknown as investigations
remain underway.
A girl lights candle as other carry placards in Islamabad yesterday, during a vigil for the victims of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash in Karachi on May 22.
