Two passengers miraculously survived the devastating crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane which went down in a residential area near Karachi only minutes from the airport, local authorities have confirmed.
Bank of Punjab (BOP) CEO Zafar Masud was one of the two confirmed miracle survivors.
BOP said Masud was being treated in hospital, writing on Twitter that he has “sustained injuries but he is out of danger.”
The other passenger has been named as Mohd Zubair by a Sindh government official on Twitter.
There has been no official confirmation as to the total number of survivors, but local media outlet Geo News said Masud is one of “multiple” people who escaped death.
By the grace of Allah, Mr. Zafar Masud the President of The Bank of Punjab has survived the horrific plane crash earlier today. He has sustained injuries but he is out of danger and being treated in the hospital. #BOP#TheBankOfPunjab#PlaneCrash#Miracle#HarFardKaKhayalpic.twitter.com/gxmB89nznP
The Sindh region’s Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited Masud at the Darul Sehat Hospital in Karachi and had a brief talk with him, reports also said.
Local news reports said Masud’s brother is now with him at the hospital and that he called his mother after miraculously surviving the deadly crash, apparently sustaining only fractures.
The plane crashed in the residential Model Colony neighborhood outside the city after reportedly running into a technical problem which prevented the pilot from coming in to land. The last communication from the plane was a Mayday alert.
Rescue workers are at the scene with the Pakistani Army’s quick reaction force, and local reports indicate up to 20 people have been pulled from the rubble of damaged buildings.
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