Cold storage where seven trapped workers were found dead after the attack on Karachi airport. PHOTO: EXPRESS
While the provincial government said it was not its responsibility to provide machinery to force open the facility, a private builder was able to do just that.
On Monday night, Express News highlighted the cause of officials trapped in a Gerry’s D’nata facility for eight hours as government officials passed the buck on. Families of those trapped blocked Shahrae Faisal for some time in order to draw the attention of the authorities, but their calls remained unheard by everyone from Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar to Director General Civil Aviation Authority Muhammad Yusuf.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Information Minister Sharjeel Memon did visit the airport, but concluded that it was the CAA’s responsibility to rescue those trapped in the facility.
While the CAA declared the airport open and officials tried to maintain a regular flight schedule, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also remained absent from the scene, even as family members insisted that their loved ones were still alive inside the facility.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.
COMMENTS (9)
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@Akash:
Under the conditions...saving lives is of prime importance instead of talking of responsibility during such a situation....if you had an iota of value for human lives you would not commented like you did....this is simple plain murder & FIR must be lodged on provincial govt, CAA etc; for gross negligence....
As per international aviation law, no flight operation or normal activity should operate unless all lives are accounted for....how could the authority give clearance without check & verification ? this is the height of ignorance from people like you who instead of agreeing to saving lives " first ask question later " giving undue justification in such critical situation & gross human negligence.
The Sindh government did not take the blame for negligence on the Sindh floods 2010/11, the Thar famine 2014, the dilapidated condition of Karachi, the death of seven innocents in the storage, the nepotism in Karachi police, the blocking of roads in Clifton around Bilawal House, etcetra. It took a PTI protest to get one road opened and the other one is still closed. A member of the Sindh government said during the protest; shown by TV, that we are working on the re-opening of the second road and it takes time to work out these issues. Six months? Salams
@Akash: was it Bahria Towns responsibility? What you're saying is that in the interest of procedure it is better to have mothers, wives and children screaming for the lives of their loved ones rather than break protocol. If CAA didn't do its job then why should anybody else do it for them right? They are equally to blame for this murder along with everyone else that was there and should have been there.
What would it take for the not so Honourable Chief Minister to step down from his position? From the Thar incident where there was a feast laid out during severe Famine to this incident where he actually had the audacity to say that it was not the Sindh Governments responsibility to save the lives of its citizens suffocating and burning to death. It baffles me that this man is still allowed to maintain his post after making such statements, yet the Sindh government seems to care less. Even the so called Twitteraty politicians seem to be giving their thumbs a rest when it comes to this incident. I guess the only way we will have any respite from these animals is take to the streets!
The basic fact is that it was CAA that was responsible. second it comes under the ministry of defence. Sindh govt is only responsible if CAA asked for help and they denied. ET kindly let us know through your very intelligent journalists that whose responsibility it is to control and operate airport, should Sindh govt interfere in the affairs of institution under MoD????? if not than dont blame this incident on them.
Now this is a perfect case for the SC to take suo moto. But these poor people.....it's not Najam Sethi who gets restored within a few hours or Geo News whose case accepted for hearing immediately.
The writer is correct, the Express TV had been trying to get attention of all Govt people, they also contacted to Mr Sharjeel Memon, if that time Govt and other Airport organizations take notice, those poor died persons could have been saved.This is simple a murder How shame, instead to try to save people, these people throwing their responsibilities to others.. God bless us