Model Colony residents receive cheques from PIA

Several people were injured, houses and vehicles damaged in recent plane crash

KARACHI: Cheques were distributed as provisional aid for residents of Model Colony who were affected in the recent Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash at the PIA Training Centre on Sunday.

Several people were injured and houses and vehicles damaged when the PIA aircraft plunged into the residential area on May 22, killing 97 people on board the plane and a child who was on the street.

MNAs Akram Cheema and Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi and other government officials distributed the cheques among the affected families, while PIA chief operating officer Aijaz Mazhar and other PIA officials attended the ceremony.

The national carrier has reportedly provided aid to the affected residents, while also making arrangements for the payment of six months' rent to landlords on behalf of those who have rented houses in the area.  It has further provided temporary accommodation to families whose houses were damaged as a result of the crash and medical facilities to the injured.

Further compensation will be paid to the affectees on the directive of the government and PIA after the value of losses to property and vehicles is estimated by a technical surveyor via an insurance company.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2020.