Weather hampers recovery
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Posted By KAMRAN HAIDER, REUTERS
Posted 1 month ago
ISLAMABAD -- Heavy monsoon rains in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Thursday hampered recovery efforts at the site of a plane crash that killed all 152 people on board a day earlier, a senior police officer said.
The Airbus 321, belonging to AirBlue, crashed on Wednesday into a steep and heavily wooded hillside shortly before it was due to land after a flight from Karachi.
Thick fog and rain are considered the most likely reasons for the worst aviation accident on Pakistani soil.
Bin Yameen, deputy inspector-general with the Islamabad police, said the operation to recover the remains of victims could not be resumed due to the heavy rain. Difficulty in accessing the site was also complicating salvage efforts.
"We are waiting for the rain to stop. In such weather, neither helicopters can fly nor rescue workers move up easily. We may give it a try but it seems very difficult to carry out such operation in difficult terrain," he said.
Investigators were looking into causes of the crash, said senior Civil Aviation Administration officer Ayaz Jadoon.
"They're going through records and documents, though they couldn't go up because of bad weather," he said, adding the plane's flight data recorder has yet to be recovered.
The airport control tower was sealed off, and radio traffic between the plane and the tower was being examined.
The rain may also damage or wash away, evidence.
"Time is very precious," the investigation team's head, Khawaja Abdul Majeed, told Dawn News TV after arriving in Islamabad late Wednesday from Karachi. "We have to collect evidence as soon as possible, so we don't have much time."
The federal information minister said late on Wednesday rescue workers had been able to recover 115 bodies during a day-long operation at the site.
Some relatives gathered at the city's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital to identify bodies.
Hospital official Tahir Nadeem said 59 bodies had been identified and taken away by their relatives while the remaining bodies -- mostly in pieces -- have been sent to the morgue.
The government declared a day of mourning on Thursday for the victims.
Sarfraz Chaudhry was hoping to find body of his sister, Gulzar Bibi, who was one of eight family members on the ill-fated plane.
"She was coming here to attend a funeral of a 90-year-old relative, but nobody knew that she and others would have their last day," he said. "We have identified six of our dead relatives, but of my sister and one other, we are still searching and hope that we find them."
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