KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday visited the Sindh Forensic DNA and Serology Laboratory in the Karachi University and asked the lab management to expedite the DNA tests of the passengers that died in the plane crash on May 22.

“The family members of the passengers [that] died in the plane crash are in such a severe pain that they have not only lost their relatives, but now they are unable to identify their bodies to perform their funeral,” he said and added “this pain will continue piercing them in their hearts the whole life, but we can mitigate it by handing over them the bodies just after identifying them through DNA test.”

Briefing the chief minister, the lab in-charge said that out of 97 bodies 50 had been identified and handed over to their heirs.

He added that at present 29 bodies were lying in the mortuaries of Edhi and 18 in Chhipa.

The chief minister was told that 12 victims identified through DNA were Yasmeen, Attaullah, Shehnaz, Khalida, Khalid Sherdil, Saad Mahmood, Usman and Surya.

He was further informed that three other bodies identified, through DNA, had also been handed over to their respective families, while two DNA reports were missed/rejected due to tagging issue.

The chief minister directed the district administration to resolve the issue and get the bodies identified so that they could be handed over to their relatives. The chief minister appreciated the lab staff, technicians and the administration for their untiring work and their dedication to help the aggrieved families identify their loved ones.

Covid Hospital at Nipa

Earlier, the chief minister visited Covid-19 Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) at Nipa where he was briefed by health secretary Zahid Abbasi.

The chief minister said that he had already released Rs1.2 billion to complete the structure of the hospital building and procurement of necessary equipment.

He said that the building had two blocks and each block had a three-storey building and added that the hospital had the capacity of 400 beds.

The chief minister met Vice Chancellor of the Dow University Dr Saeed Qureshi and handed over the possession of the hospital to him.

He directed the VC to make its Block-A with 200 beds functional within in a month.

No water, electricity connection

The chief minister was told that there was no proper power and water connection to the hospital.

The chief minister instantly phoned the chief executive officer of the K-Electric and directed him to provide proper power connection to the hospital on emergency basis, while the paperwork for a new connection or PMT would be carried out accordingly.

He also directed the managing director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to provide water connection to the hospital and ensure water supply to the hospital through tankers from Friday morning.

The chief minister directed the works and services secretary to ensure round-the-clock presence of an engineer in the hospital building so that its construction could be completed within a month.

Dental Hospital

The chief minister also visited the 50-bed dental hospital of the Dow University constructed in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, opposite Karachi University.

The chief minister directed the VC of the Dow University to complete the work on hospital within a month and make it functional for coronavirus patients.

He directed the health secretary to provide necessary equipment and staff to the hospital so that it could be made functional.

The chief minister said that he would visit the hospital once again, most probably next week, to review the progress of the work.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2020