Remains of two Austrians handed over to embassy

ISLAMABAD: The mortal remains of two Austrian nationals who were on board the PK-661 flight which crashed in Abbottabad were handed over to the embassy officials in Islamabad.

The body of one Austrian national was sent to Austria to his hometown while the remains of the other victim were buried in H-9 graveyard.

Officials said the family of  Herwig Eichelberger, 56, had arrived in Islamabad and they decided to bury him in Pakistan. Thus, he was buried in a Christian graveyard in H-9 on Friday.

The body of Herald Kessler was sent to his hometown in the wee hours of Saturday as per the wishes of his family.

They both were working for the Golen Gol Hydropower Plant that is under construction in Chitral and Herwig had arrived in Pakistan for the first time.

The process of handing over of remains of the victims who perished in the PIA plane crash on December 7 and their burial was completed on December 17 and only the remains of three foreigners were kept in morgues till the fulfillment of travel permit formalities.

The body of  the Chinese victim was sent to China on December 22. With handing of remains of three foreigners the process of handing over the remains to their heirs completed on Saturday.

It took days to identify the charred bodies of the victims with the help of DNA and forensic testing.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2017.