'I was part of the agonising rescue mission of PK-661'
This piece was originally published on Dec 19, 2016.
I reached Abbottabad at 5pm to pick up my mother from the Daewoo Express bus station. She was coming from Peshawar, where she had landed earlier in the day on the same aircraft that crashed on its way to Islamabad from Chitral.
Panic struck me as I looked at the TV screen flashing the news of the missing PIA plane.
Minutes later, Deputy Superintendent of Police Havelian confirmed that the PK-661 had crashed in Havelian.
Immediately, I thought to myself, “Oh my God, my mother was also on board the same plane today!”
I was overtaken by a sense of urgency to help. I thought of going to the crash site to douse the flames, look for survivors and rescue them.
I called my colleague Additional Assistant Commissioner Abbas Shah Bukhari who was near the crash site, and he advised me to go to the Civil Hospital Havelian to make arrangements for the victims.
As I reached, I was informed that an emergency had already been declared at the hospital and that the medical staff was on standby.