Karachi cargo plane crash: DNA samples taken from bodies

KARACHI - DNA samples have been taken from the bodies recovered from the debris of the Russian-made cargo plane that crashed near residential apartments in Karachi on Sunday.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed declared an emergency in all hospitals of the city after the first report regarding the plane crash was received, Geo News reports.

At least eleven people, including all eight on board, died in the incident. Six bodies recovered from the plane crash site were shifted to the Civil and Jinnah Hospitals. According to medico-legal experts, the bodies are hundred percent burnt down and hence beyond identification. However, their DNA samples have been taken.

All the bodies have been placed at the Edhi Morgue until further investigations.

The IL-76 cargo plane bound for Sudanese capital Khartoum crashed seconds after taking off from Karachi airport.

“It took off from Karachi at 1:45 am (20:45 GMT Saturday) and after one and a half minutes it crashed,” Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Pervez George said.

According to witnesses, the plane slammed into the buildings under construction in the sensitive Dalmai neighbourhood, where the Pakistan Air Force and Navy have residential apartments and offices.

The explosion caused by the crash was so powerful that local residents thought it was triggered by a bomb, said Karachi police chief Fayyas Leghari.

Flames raged in four to five construction sites, but officials said that the number of casualties could have been far higher if the plane had struck nearby residential buildings.

Witnesses spoke of their horror at seeing a fireball racing through the night sky.

“I saw a fireball plummeting to ground,” said milk seller Mohammad Raees, who had been going home on his motorbike after closing his shop.

It was the third plane accident within four months in Pakistan, and the second aircraft to crash after take off from Karachi in just four weeks. (ANI)