Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that inquiry report of the Air Blue plane crash would be made public as the government has nothing to get from hiding the facts. Addressing a press conference at PID media centre, he said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has constituted a high-level inquiry team, which has started its work.
However he said the black box of the plane has not been recovered so far, and search for it would continue Thursday. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed (Retd), Pakistan Baitul Maal Managing Director Zamurrad Khan, Executive Director Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and IG Islamabad Police were also present on the occasion.
The minister appealed to the media not to air speculative news about the causes of the air crash, as at this time the relatives of the deceased need consolation. He said if any negligence or mistake on the part of the concerned staff or departments is found, the culprits would be taken to task.
The minister said unfortunately none of the passengers or crewmembers could survive the tragic accident. The minister said within half an hour of the accident, rescue teams of CDA, Pakistan Army, Air Force, Navy, NDMA, volunteers and other institutions reached the site and started rescue work. He said that first priority was to search for the injured but unfortunately, no survivor was found. He especially thanked the volunteers from civil society for their rescue work. Kaira said so far 115 bodies have been recovered from the debris and rescuers would restart the search tomorrow morning for the remaining bodies. The minister said bodies were shifted to the hospital through 40 helicopter sorties. To a question, he said the debris is spread over a vast area.