ISLAMABAD:
Just 47 days ahead of the first anniversary of the deadliest air crash in the capital, Air Blue has decided to act on its eleven-month old commitment to erect a monument in the Margalla Hills to pay tribute to the crash victims.
Air Blue flight ED 202 crashed in the Margalla Hills on July 28 last year killing all 152 passengers on board. The design and location of the memorial has now been finalised.
“The monument would mark Syed Haider’s grave since I could not retrieve my younger brother’s body for burial,” Syed Fahad told The Express Tribune. In an attempt to defuse the immense pressure from the families for the monument’s construction, the airline has asked them to provide the passengers’ names which will appear on the memorial. “Soon after the crash, the government and the airline promised to erect a monument and construct 72 graves in a graveyard in Islamabad before the first anniversary, said Haris Lodhi from Karachi who lost his mother in the crash. “The government and Air Blue have failed to fulfil their promise.”
The monument, to be constructed near Daman-e-Koh and not at the crash site since the location is not appropriate, will cost Rs20 million, according to Air Blue’s Director Corporate Affairs, Sadia Mohammad.
The airline has organised a memorial programme for July 28 and it will operate special flights to fly the victims’ families to Islamabad on the first anniversary of the crash.
The director said 39 families have received the final compensation of Rs5 million whereas Air Blue has already paid out Rs0.5 million to all 146 families.
Air Blue’s investigation team has completed its report and submitted it to the ministry of defence, according to a letter available with The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.
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