The arrival of each dead body at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has multiplied the agony of the already aggrieved relatives of the ill-fated Boeing 737 passengers, as the bodies blew into pieces after the crash thus making it difficult for the relatives to identify their loved ones.
The remains of the 127 victims were shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Friday night, where 118 were identified while 110 bodies were handed over to their relatives.
Those 118 identified mutilated bodies were either handed over to the relatives of diseased while few of them were sent to cold storage located in I-10 Sector through a number of ambulances. “The identified bodies will later be handed over to relatives as soon as they reach here,” said Dr Altaf Hussain, Joint Executive Director (JED), PIMS hospital.
As soon as the coffin came out of the PIMS emergency ward’s gate, the anguished relatives rushed towards the coffin with the hope that the dead body was complete and identifiable as the coffins were tagged with the names of passengers with their identification number.
“The administration of PIMS has handed over the dead bodies to the relatives who have reached here while the rest of the bodies will be handed over to them as soon as they will reach here,” JED said, adding those nine dead bodies whose identification could not be made yet will done through DNA test. Dr Altaf said many of bodies were in full shapes but majority of them were wounded badly.
“DNA test takes a week or 10 days time, as the PIMS has no facility of the DNA test, so those remaining bodies’ pieces will be identified through DNA test in KRL hospital,” Dr Altaf said while talking to Pakistan Today. On Saturday, the relief camps of many private, public and social sector and humanitarians organisations were set up inside the PIMS.
The relatives, who turned up on Saturday at PIMS, said: “We cannot explain our agony; we don’t know how it actually occurred. We could not believe it. So far the reason for the crash is not known. It could be related to bad weather as it was raining heavily in Islamabad when the plane crashed. But we want our dear ones back,” they screamed.
They said weather was not as bad as people were talking about. “Even in worst weather conditions we have seen a lot of successful air travels but this is unbelievable- we are astonished,” they said.
Few other relatives waiting for bodies of their dear ones said apparently the cause of the crash was bad weather, but we leave that to the investigators as we could not do more than that. Shakila Bibi belonging to Mansehra and whose three loved ones including Shazia, Sadaf and Hameeda Balwan were in the plane told Pakistan Today that Shazia was to appear for interview in the US embassy.
PIMS spokesman Dr Wasim Khwaja said the hospital administration including its paramedical staff extend their all out efforts during the rescue operation. He said they vacated the wards to accommodate the dead bodies. Khwaja said NADRA had supported much in the identification of the bodies, adding the identification of the bodies was a difficult task for them as most of the bodies were scattered.
He said the most of the relatives had identified their loved ones and the remaining bodies have been sent to the cold storage of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration in Sector I/10.
“After matching the DNA test of the dead bodies with their relatives, we would hand over the remaining bodies to them,” said Khwaja, adding it would take five to seven days in the whole process.
Police participation in relief activities lauded
After the plan crash, Islamabad police participated in the relief work with full devotion and dedication as various teams assumed certain tasks to be achieved which were lauded and appreciated by the SSP and the IGP Islamabad. The process of identification of the mutilated dead bodies of passengers who their lives in the plane crash is still continuing. The personnel of Islamabad police participated actively in the rescue operation soon after the crash. Teams of law enforcement agencies, staff from Capital Development authority, Rescue 1122, Civil Aviation Authority, Rangers and other Departments also reached there and participated in rescue operation along with local people with mutual coordination. Dead bodies were shifted at the places where ambulances were parked. Police fully participated in operation of shifting the dead bodies from the crash site to hospital. Police officials rushed to the scene after gathering information from sources. It is pertinent to mention that the police team pointed out the site within few minutes and reached there after passing through single-road in tough weather. With the gathering of people from nearby areas, the traffic was blocked. Over this situation, special deployment of personnel from Islamabad traffic police and Islamabad Police on the route heading towards this site was made which cleared the road for vehicles of rescue teams. IGP Islamabad Bani Amin Khan has also thanked the local people for their support in rescue operation and expressed condolences with the families of deceased. He prayed Almighty Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace. He said personnel of Islamabad police would remain present in the area for further assistance as officials from other relevant departments would decide as when to conclude this operation.
