GILGIT – In a shocking incident, a PIA flight left behind the body of a six-year-old boy at Islamabad airport on Friday, exacerbating the stress of distressed parents.
The flight took off from Islamabad and was meant to carry the body of the boy to in Skardu; however, the family was left high and dry after it was revealed that the body was still in Islamabad.
The boy, identified as Mujtaba, lost his life after treatment at Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi; he was diagnosed with a tumor prompting his parents to shift him to Rawalpindi for better treatment.
The resident of Katshi village of Kharmang district lost his life on Thursday after which his parents decided to transport the body of their child to their native village for burial.
The deceased boy’s parents and another relative confirmed their tickets for flight PK-451 from Islamabad to Skardu on Friday morning. The cargo procedure and other formalities were also completed; however, the body was left in Islamabad – a tragedy on top of a tragedy revealed to the parents at the Skardu airport.
The flight left Islamabad at 1 pm after a delay of four hours but upon arrival at Skardu airport at 2 pm, the parents were informed that mistakenly the body was not loaded on the plane.
The severity of the matter could be gauged from the fact that the grieving parents fainted at the airport while the relatives gathered at the airport’s lounge and started a protest against the PIA management, Dawn News reported.
Officials of PIA, Civil Aviation Authority and other departments, tried to calm down the parents and assured them to bring back the body on Saturday.
The PIA officials assured the parents that action would be taken against the responsible ones for negligence.
Meanwhile, Yousaf Kamal, another relative of the deceased boy, said the negligence was deliberate, adding that Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engr Amir Muqam was scheduled to fly to Gilgit from Islamabad but the flight couldn’t be operated due to the bad weather condition.
kamal added that the federal minister changed his plan and decided to go to Skardu which left the passengers waiting.
