Pak crash leaves trail of devastating stories

152 people were killed in Pakistan's worst aviation accident.

Islamabad, Jul 29: A newly-wed couple on honeymoon, six bright members of a youth parliament and a couple flying to the capital to attend a funeral were among the 152 people killed in Pakistan's worst aviation accident.

Ayesha and Asif, who were flying to Islamabad for their honeymoon, were killed five days after their wedding.

They were among the 146 passengers of the ill-fated Airblue flight that slammed into the thickly forested Margalla Hills outside Islamabad yesterday.

"We are all traumatised. They got married only last Friday and were going on their honeymoon. Our house, which till yesterday was echoing with laughter, is now reverberating with shrieks and cries," Sadia, Ayesha's cousin, told a newspaper.

A rescue worker informed Ayesha's father about her death from her cell phone at the crash site.

Another couple, Aisha and Mohammed, were on the flight from Karachi to Islamabad to attend a funeral. "What will I tell their children now," cried Aisha's brother Akhtar. The couple had left their children with him.

Six young men and women, part of the Youth Parliament of Pakistan, were travelling to the national capital to attend a session. They were identified as Hassan Javed Khan, Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi, Prem Chand, Bilal Jamaee, Owais bin Laiq and Syed Arsalan Ahmad.

Syed Shan-e-Hussain Naqvi, a Youth Parliament member who did not board the flight, was in a state of shock. "My parents did not even know that I had not taken the flight because I spent the night at my friend's house. When I called to tell my parents that I didn't go, they could not believe it. My mother just couldn't stop crying," Naqvi said.

Naqvi lost a co-parliamentarian and cousin Rabab in the crash. "I was so shocked. Rabab's father called me up and started crying," he said. Naqvi said his cousin was one of the best delegates in the youth parliament and an all-rounder.

The new "prime minister" of the Youth Parliament was Hassan Javed Khan, who was to join Oxford University this fall.

Rabab's father Muhammad Murtaza said she was very happy before the journey.

"She kept on reading till late at night and came to me and asked me to pray for her. I want to go to Islamabad and see my daughter or get her body myself," Murtaza said.

Bhagwan Das, a cousin of youth parliamentarian Prem Chand, dropped him at the airport yesterday morning. "I had just reached home when we saw the news on TV and rushed back to the airport," he said.

According to Das, Prem Chand was the only educated person in their circle. "We could not sleep all night, Prem Chand was telling me stories of Islamabad and parliament and we went to the seashore to enjoy the weather," Das said.

While one father lost his three sons, the crash also killed Australian scientist Mirko Cvjeticanin, who was to deliver a lecture at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Islamabad, and two Americans.

Upcoming woman footballer Misha Dawood of Karachi was also among the dead.

The lucky few who reserved seats but did not board the flight could not stop thanking their lucky stars. Former federal sports minister Mir Mehran Khan Bijrani and his son Salman had confirmed seats but missed the flight.

Mehran's son Irfan said that when they reached the airport, the flight had just taken off.
Saeed Minhas, who had reserved a ticket, decided against travelling. The resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal in Karachi said his family had arranged a 'sadqa' and 'khairat' in his name. "My wife called me crying," he said. "I asked why, and she said the plane had crashed".


(PTI)