LAHORE: Civil Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has debunked rumours regarding his resignation and said that neither was he asked to resign nor had he made such an offer.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore today (Thursday), he said that no one should be held accountable for the ill-fated PIA plane crash until the inquiry is completed in the matter.
The Civil Aviation Minister maintained that nobody’s fault or negligence has been identified yet. “I am visiting the families of all those killed in the plane crash, on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he added.
Commenting on the bodies, Ghulam Sarwar informed that the bodies of seven crew members out of eight have been handed over to their heirs.
He also informed that the aircraft’s voice box and data box has been handed over to the French probe team for further investigations. “Hopefully, the team will brief the aviation ministry on the initial findings within a week,” he added.
He assured that the ministry was striving for a transparent, fair, and impartial inquiry regarding the regretful incident.
Referring to compensation given to the victims’ families, he said that about Rs1 million have been allotted for the bereaved families of the passengers, cabin crew and technicians.
Discussing the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, he informed that the operation to bring back 34,000 Pakistanis stranded abroad will continue till June 10.
“After June 10, we will take the provinces into confidence and decide the next course of action,” he said, adding that about 100,000 Pakistanis stranded abroad have applied for repatriation.
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