by Javaria Atiya Waheed
It seems like Pakistan has become a magnet: a magnet which is becoming prone to attracting disaster every day. The fresh wave of rain across the country was not even done wrecking its havoc, when the citizens woke up this morning to yet another breaking news on their television sets: An AirBlue Plane crashed into the Margalla Mountains off Islamabad leaving uncountable dead and no survivors. Dead bodies are being retrieved every second and while families fret over the loss of their loved ones, the nation of Pakistan are given another fixation to be worried about.
The Airblue plane which was traveling from Karachi to Islamabad, was lodging a total of 152 people including the crew. It was at 09 43am, that this ill-fated event occurred: when the plane after crashing into one of the peaks of Margalla, was totally destroyed, killing every single person in it. The reason for this sudden crash is still being deciphered: where people are assuming bad weather to be one of the reasons, to many it sounds like the most unlikely. Authorities say that the plane crashed while trying to land in rainy and cloudy conditions, giving rise to one of the most fatal crash the country has ever known. Moreover, since the plane blew up right after crashing, the bodies of most of the people dead were left severely unidentifiable. For this reason, health officials have proposed the use of DNA to recognize the bodies, adding to the ordeal of the bereft families.
The 152 people left dead have now been turned into mere corporeal bundles: pictures, papers and checkbooks are scattered across the scene as volunteers and rescue workers, try to determine the identity of the deceased. The flight included a group of young students who, being the winning team of a youth parliament, were on their way to meet the Prime Minister. Little did they know, that when they left Karachi at 07 40 that morning, they would be shortly breathing their last.
The families of these 20-year-olds have been left in a state of utter shock and distress; parents bewail the death of their young children who had not yet even gotten a chance to see the world. Not just this, a newly-wed couple: a couple who had just tied the knot on the 23rd of July also breathed their last in this crash, before they could even begin their life together. A family of 8 lost their lives to this gaping disaster and a man lost his wife and 3 young children before they could even initiate their vacation. While the nation bemoans this terrible incident, the grief we feel is nothing compared to what these families are feeling.
As if the terrorist activities were not enough to drive tourists away from Pakistan, the death of two U.S citizens, one Australian doctor, one Somalian national and one Scandinavian in this crash, has left a scar on Pakistan’s already abysmal reputation on the international front.
Moreover, as if this anguish isn’t enough, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Government of Pakistan are adding onto the problems of these distraught families. A local news channel reported that when members of the mourning families are looking for ways to go back to Islamabad to identify the remains, the airlines are charging them way more than usual. Taking advantage of their situation, the airlines are looking for their profits succumbing to their selfish needs and where the Government should provide for the abode of these people, it has closed its eye to the entire situation. Even at these hospitals of Islamabad, witnesses have reported that no Government officials can be seen. In the midst of this catastrophe, the authorities are certainly not playing their role appropriately: instead, it seems like to add onto the calamity is their main aim right now.
While people express their sorrow and anger over the unsatisfactory steps the government is taking, answers are also being demanded over why this crash occurred. Bad weather is being attributed as one of the main reasons, but the statement by the Pakistan Airline Pilot Association speaks to the contrary. According to them, the plane was around 15 kilometers off course at the time this crash transpired. Dire weather is again being blamed for this stray too but it is pretty apparent that something else was amiss, which resulted in this crash. Answers are being demanded and the nation is hoping that the authorities will provide them with some.
In August 1989, one PIA Fokker on a domestic flight, with 54 people onboard, went down in northern Pakistan. The plane’s wreckage was never found. In September 1992, a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a mountain in Nepal, killing all 167 people on board. In July 2006, a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by PIA slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board. And now this. As condolences fly in from all over the world, it is apparent, that this crash is one of those, which will mar the history of Pakistan forever. When the rescue mission was put off until Thursday morning, a total of 115 bodies had been recovered; bodies which still need to be verified against DNA.
In this time of trial, all we can hope is that authorities will start playing their role as fittingly as possible and the mourners will be given as much strength as possible.