Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Cold storage horror

And while the military was trying to break-down the cold storage walls, did anyone think of switching off the power to the facility? Probably it would not have mattered, the poor folks were probably long gone before anyone noticed.

To an outsider this all looks like Pashtun nationalism fighting for its version of "pure lands for pure people," not dissimilar to the earlier movements by Sikhs, Muslims (and even Hindu groups) in the sub-continent.

The only problem is the access to the sea from Peshawar (Khalistan maps used to show a corridor from Punjab to sea- via Karachi).  Thus the Pashtuns have decided that they will keep their lands AND re-create Pakistan in their own image.
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At least seven bodies were recovered in the early hours of Tuesday morning from Karachi airport’s cold-storage facility, DawnNews reported.

The rescue operation continued nearly for 28 hours. The rescue workers finally broke down three walls of the cold-storage facility to retrieve the victims.


Meanwhile, talking to media persons Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed said that the corpses were immediately shifted to Jinnah Hospital for DNA tests in order to identify them, after which they would be handed over to their relatives.

Ahmed said that the bodies were badly burnt and were beyond recognition and the process of identification would take three weeks time.

He added that if the deceased could not be identified, they would be buried after being provided temporary identification.

One of the Airport Security Force (ASF) personnel was still missing, Ahmed claimed.
According to sources, the deceased were employees of a private cargo company.

Due to the fact that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) lacked heavy machinery, many prominent social workers voluntarily sent cranes to rescue the victims.
The army also assisted in the recovery of bodies in the rescue operation.
The deceased had taken refuge in the cold-storage facility to escape the carnage where they were earlier trapped.

“We are looking into this and according to the families some seven people were trapped inside the cold storage and were in contact with the families on cell phone,” said Abid Qaimkhani, a spokesman for CAA.

Earlier last night, the families of seven airport workers had blocked Shahra e Faisal demanding that authorities work towards freeing their relatives who were trapped.
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Link: http://www.dawn.com/news/1111784/seven-bodies-recovered-from-karachi-airports-cold-storage-facility
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regards

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