At least two people are believed to have survived the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane near Karachi that had 99 passengers and crew on board on Friday, according to Pakistan’s civil aviation officials.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity and said so far two people were believed to have survived the horrific crash but there maybe other survivors.
Karachi’s mayor had earlier said all those on board had died in the air crash. Pakistan’s local television channels, however, ran footage of a man on a stretcher who they said had survived the crash.
The plane went down in a crowded neighbourhood on the edge of the international airport near Karachi.
Director Programming of 24 News Ansar Naqvi and Bank of Punjab President Zafar Masood were among the passengers. Masood’s family has confirmed that he survived the crash.
According to Pakistan’s Geo News, Bank of Punjab (BOP) chief executive Zafar Masud is among the survivors. He has been taken to hospital, where his brother is with him. He is reported to be stable.
Eyewitnesses said the Airbus A320 attempted to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near the Karachi airport.
Jinnah Hospital has said that several injured people had been brought to their facility. One of them was badly burnt and has been shifted to the burn ward of the hospital, Geo News reported.
Among the injured there are women and also reportedly a seven-year-old boy. The injured people are all believed to be residents of the area where the plane crashed.
Most of the passengers, however, are feared dead in the plane crash with 99 people on board. The plane crashed into a densely populated residential area near the Jinnah International Airport.
The air crash occurred nearly a week after commercial flights resumed on a limited basis amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The flight from Lahore was about to land in Karachi when it crashed at the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, just a minute before its landing, Pakistani civil aviation officials said.
