19 bodies of PIA crash victims forcibly taken away from morgue: Edhi Foundation
by Web Desk
The Edhi Foundation has said relatives of 19 passengers who died in last week’s Pakistan International Air (PIA) plane crash in Karachi have forcibly taken bodies away from its morgue, reported The News.
“Nineteen bodies have been forcibly taken away from the morgue by families, and I believe that most of the severely charred bodies are not properly recognised,” Faisal Edhi, the head of the organisation said.
He said relatives did not provide any proof or identification before taking away the bodies. Edhi also appealed to the relatives of the victims to not argue and fight with the morgue staffers. “Our staffers at the morgue are well-trained but there are severely burnt bodies not recognisable,” he said.
Edhi said that because of the aggression of the victims’ relatives and pressure from political figures, the morgue administration was forced to hand over the bodies to them. “The government should provide security to the morgue’s management,” he demanded.
So far, the authorities have handed over 41 bodies to their families after identifying them, according to the health ministry. The DNA tests, which will take at least one month, are underway to identify the remains of the other victims.
PFSA collects DNA samples of 52 victims
The Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) has collected DNA samples of 52 victims of the ill-fated PK8303 flight, a day after Sindh government refused to let the agency collect them.
PFSA Director-General Dr Muhammad Tahir Ashraf confirmed that the agency had collected DNA samples from Karachi and returned to Lahore on Saturday.
"DNA samples of 52 deceased individuals and their families have been obtained," he confirmed. "We will start releasing DNA reports after Wednesday."
On the other hand, Sindh Forensic and DNA Laboratory Karachi University said that samples from 67 victims of the PIA plane crash have been provided by their families.