Funeral prayers in absentia offered to crew members; search for black box, missing crew continues
FATAL CRASH: Large gathering offers funeral prayers in absentia for Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, who died in the crash of a K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo plane in the Arabian Sea. PHOTO: INP
KARACHI:
Although the wreckage of the ill-fated K2 Airways cargo plane has been recovered and transported to Karachi, hopes of piecing together the cause of the crash remain up in the air, with rescuers yet to locate the plane’s black box or recover the bodies of the crew.
According to sources, the debris recovered from the Boeing 737 cargo plane, which crashed into the Arabian Sea about 53 nautical miles off Ormara on Tuesday evening, has been moved from Balochistan to Karachi. However, authorities said the wreckage found was insufficient for investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
Rescue and rescue operations continued on Sunday despite the weekly public holiday. Divers searched the waters around the suspected crash site while maintaining aerial surveillance, but no trace of the flight data recorder or crew had been found at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, funeral prayers in absentia were offered in Karachi for the crew members who allegedly lost their lives in the accident.
The ghaibana namaz-e-janaza of aeronautical engineer Muhammad Arif Siddiqui took place in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, led by his son, Abdul Rafi. The prayers were attended by Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Acting Chief Muslim Parvez, party office bearers, family members, relatives, neighbors and a large number of party workers.
Speaking to reporters after the prayers, Muslim Parvez said that every soul ultimately returns to its Creator. He said the people of the area testified to Siddiqui’s good character and prayed that Allah would grant him the highest place in the afterlife. He expressed concern about the failure to find the bodies of the crew and the plane’s black box several days after the crash, saying government efforts to search the sea had been insufficient. He called the plane’s sudden disappearance from radar a major tragedy and called for a full, transparent and impartial investigation into the accident. He also urged the government to use all available resources to recover the bodies so that the bereaved families can find closure.
Meanwhile, ghaibana namaz-e-janaza of the aircraft captain, Captain Rizwan Idris, was offered after Asr prayers at Falcon Complex of Malir Cantonment on Sunday. A large number of relatives and residents attended the funeral prayer, along with serving and retired officers of the Pakistan Air Force, including Air Officer Commanding South, Base Commander Malir and members of the civil aviation community. The participants also offered their condolences to the captain’s family, in particular to his sons, who arrived from Germany.
The funeral prayer in absentia of aeronautical engineer Muhammad Arif Siddiqui was also attended by a large number of locals and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, including Muslim Parvez, East District Chief Naeem Akhtar and Information Secretary Zahid Askari. The funeral prayer in absentia of the plane’s second engineer, Muhammad Hamid, is expected to take place after Maghrib prayers on Monday at the Rim Jhim Tower in Safora.
