19 martyred of plane crash laid to rest

ISLAMABAD: The Namaz-e-Janaza of martyred pilots and crew members who embraced Shahadat in a plane crash near Mora Kalu was offered on Tuesday at Chaklala Garrison.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, serving and retired military personnel and relatives of Shuhada attended the funeral. At least 19 people, including five military personnel and 13 civilians, were martyred when a military aircraft crashed in Mohra Kalu locality near Rawat in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Five military officials, including two officers of theranks of Lieutenant Colonel, Saqib and Wasim, Naib Subedar Mohammad Afzal and two Hawaldars, Amin and Rehmat, were martyred in the crash, the ISPR said. It said the aircraft was on a routine training flight when it crashed but there was no immediate word on the cause of the accident or the type of aircraft involved.

Thirteen civilians who were martyred in the incident included Muhammad Jamil, Robena, Habib, Parri Bibi, Muhammad Shabbir, Fatma Bibi, Uzma Bibi, Abdul Hafeez, Rahela Bibi, Fiazan Hameed, Fozia Bibi, Audul Rauf, Amna Bibi and Iqra. The injured were identified as Muhammad Yousaf, Shamim, Iqra Bibi, Suria Bibi, Saba Jan and Muhammad Nadeem. Three residents also got minor wounds who were discharged from hospital after medical treatment. The funerals of the martyred civilians were also held in their respective areas.

People of the area noticed at around 2:00am the falling aircraft with heavy sound in the Rawat area. A local person said he saw the aircraft crashing with big bang, which caused fire which engulfed four houses. “Locals rushed to the scene but the aircraft had burnt to ashes,” he said. Volunteers took out the wounded people from the burning houses and shifted them to hospitals.

Corps Commander Rawalpindi General Bilal Akbar visited the scene of the crash and met with the locals. Heavy contingent of Police, Rescue 1122 and Army personnel reached the scene soon after the incident and initiated the rescue operation. The rescue operation was completed before dawn when bodies and injured civilians were shifted to the CMH and Holy Family Hospital. Earlier, emergency was declared in all hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to tackle the situation. Many residents were trapped in derbis of the destroyed houses, a rescuer said, adding that three minors, five women and many people were among the trapped persons who had died before they were retrieved from the debris.

After a day-long controversy between Rawalpindi and Islamabad administration regarding the jurisdiction of occurrence, the authorities finally declared that the incident happened in the jurisdiction of Sihala police station falling in the federal capital.

President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed their grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the aircraft crash. In their separate statements, they condoled with the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of those injured in the incident.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and PM’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the crash and prayed for high reward of the martyrs and courage for the bereaved families to bear this loss with fortitude.