PIA plane crash: Federal government to compensate Model Colony residents

The Centre will bear the expenses to compensate Model Colony residents whose houses and cars were damaged when the ill-fated PK8303 crashed inside the locality a few days ago, said Governor Sindh Imran Ismail on Tuesday. 

Ismail made the announcement while talking to media persons as he went to the Burns Centre of the Civil Hospital, Karachi, to inquire after the health of three women domestic workers who had received severe burn injuries in the plane crash incident.

The injured women included Naheeda, who suffered 59% burn injuries, and Mahra and Aziza, who both sustained 30% burn injuries.

Members of the National Assembly Mahmood Moulvi and Aftab Siddiqui, who accompanied the governor during his visit to the Burns Centre, announced Rs500,000 compensation each for the three injured domestic workers.

Ismail promised that as per the directives of the prime minister, the federal government through the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would bear the full expense to compensate the losses to the private properties of Model Colony residents affected by the crash. 

He said that in this regard, data was being compiled related to the houses, motor vehicles, and two-wheelers damaged in the incident.

He said PM Imran had directed Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan that no slackness should be observed in the rehabilitation of the people affected by the plane crash incident as in this regard, the damaged houses would be rebuilt as soon as possible.

The governor said the inquiry report of the plane crash incident was yet to be submitted and without the conclusion of the probe, no one could be held responsible for the crash. He added that in this regard, fake news was being spread on social media and appealed to users of the social media platforms to avoid spreading baseless reports as doing so hurt the sentiments of bereaved families who suffered from the tragedy.

The governor said a team of forensic investigation specialists headed by Dr Humayun had arrived in Karachi from Lahore for the analysis of DNA samples obtained from the bodies of the plane crash victims. He added that an estimated 10 to 15 more days were required to complete the identification of the bodies that were yet to be identified.

Ismail said he was satisfied with the treatment services available to the injured women at the burns centre. He appreciated the services of doctors and medical professionals who, despite Eid holidays, continued to perform their duty for the ailing persons.

Meanwhile, on the third day of Eid-ul-Fitr on Tuesday, the governor went to the house of two brothers in North Karachi, Zohaib and Sohaib, who lost their lives in the plane crash incident. Ismail offered condolences to their father Mohammad Sharif Raza.

The governor said the crash incident was one of the biggest tragedies of the country’s history and a team of aviation experts had been constituted to investigate the incident on the instructions of the PM.

He added that the PM had already announced Rs1 million compensation for the bereaved families and a sum of Rs5 million would be paid later on as per the aviation insurance claim. According to the governor, the forensic investigation laboratory in Karachi had been carrying out work to identify up to 34 victims of the plane crash through the analysis of their DNA samples and the process would take 10 to 12 days to complete.

To a question, Ismail said the lockdown had provided no solution to the issue of the coronavirus epidemic. He added that he had contracted the novel coronavirus and took 18 days to recover from the infectious diseases. Nobody should think that one has to die after being diagnosed with this contagious ailment, he remarked.

Originally published in The News