PIA Crash: Tombstones of family read heart wrenching message

The viral image has become the talk of the town ever since it went on re-run during the on-going lockdown period.

Pakistani cyberspace could not hold back as the pictures of tombstones of the deceased ones surfaced the social media.

For Arif Ali Faruqui, his entire world came crashing down just two days before Eid ul Fitr as his wife and three children, 2 daughters and a son (5years, 13Years & 16years respectively) were onboard the ill-fated plane that crashed in Karachi.

Earlier, he released a video in which he makes a desperate appeal to Prime Minister Imran Khan to help him find the remains of his two children. He said that he managed to identify his wife and one kid, but the bodies of his other two children are missing. He also said that the process of DNA identification being employed by PIA is flawed and the airline has done little to provide relief to the bereaved families.

Arif Ali Faruqi says in the video, that he identified his wife through her jewellery and one of his daughters through a band that she was wearing and buried them. But he hasn’t been able to find his son and younger daughter, who also lost their lives in the plane crash.

“The decision to send the kids was taken very late as they wanted to see their grandmother,” he told.

Sitting outside the emergency ward of Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital in, he broke down while narrating his ordeal.

“The process for getting death certificates and collecting remains is extremely insensitive and inept,” said Faruqui, who had to identify the charred remains of his family.

After facing delays in the handing over of remains of identified family members, Faruqui revealed he was harassed by police as the burial took place without issuance of death certificate.

On May 28th, he said he wishes for his daughter, Ellie, and her brother, Eshmael, to be found so that they can rest with their mother and sister.

He said: “Ellie used to sleep with me. She was my Masha…. And I her bear.

“She must be so lonely right now along with her brother, they want to be resting with their mom and their sister.”

The distraught father said on Facebook: “Today I fully grasp the meaning bind the saying the smallest coffins are the heaviest.

“For my first born Eshmael… And my Ellie.

“APPA promised he would find you and he did. You’ll soon be with Mum and Enaya Meri Jaans.

“I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH and I really miss you. Life has become so lonely without you.”

In a final emotional tribute posted to his Facebook account, Mr Faruqi said he was grateful for all of the help he has received from people he doesn’t know.

He said: “I don’t know what to say to you all, I am so overwhelmed, so many comments and so many messages. Thank you all for your support.”

At least 97 people were killed when an Airbus A320, operated by Pakistan International Airlines, crashed into a Karachi neighbourhood in what was the country’s worst air disaster since 2012.

More than two dozen homes were damaged as the airliner roared in, leaving a tangle of severed electric cables and exposed rebar – a broken wing rested against the side of a home, an engine on the ground nearby.

The jet fuel set the wreckage ablaze, along with homes and vehicles, sending black smoke into the sky.

Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for latest news and updates.