Iran Expresses Condolence on Death of Pakistani Nationals in Plane Crash

Iran in a message condoled with the people and government of Pakistan over the death of 127 Pakistani citizens in a plane crash near Islamabad.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi expressed condolence to his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on the death of a group of Pakistani nationals in a plane crash near Islamabad.

In a message to Rabbani Khar on Sunday, he expressed condolences and sympathy with both Pakistani nation and government and prayed for the peace of soul of the victims of the accident.

Pakistan’s aviation officials Saturday vowed that investigation into the crash of a passenger aircraft near the capital Islamabad that killed 127 people Friday evening will not take a long time.

The Boeing-737-200 of private Bhoja airlines came down 10 kilometers from Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport few minutes before it was scheduled to land, officials said. The plane was coming from Karachi.

The investigation of this crash may not take too long, as the landing gear was down and the plane crashed on a flat terrain. Its parts disintegrated over almost 4 km, which will be easier to assemble and examine,” Director-General (DG) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Nadeem Yousafzai said.

He told a news conference that the Black Box had been sent over to concerned authorities and its examination might take one month. “Depending on the type of the crash, the final result of the inquiry may take up to three months to one year.”

Ruling out the possibility of harsh weather being the cause of the crash, the Yousafzai said there are proper systems set up to predict the weather and warnings are issued if the weather is harsh.