There might be no words to describe mismanagement and incompetence in the operation of national carrier PIA when it left the body of a six-year-old boy behind and flew his grieving parents to their destination. The incident came to light the other day when PIA officials forgot to upload the coffin of Mujtaba at the Islamabad airport and took his parents to Skardu. The heart broken parents fainted at the Skardu airport when they came to know that their son’s body had been left behind. A resident of Katshi village of Kharmang district, Mujtaba was diagnosed with a tumour at a hospital in Skardu and doctors advised his parents to take him to Rawalpindi for treatment a month ago. He had been under treatment at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital where he died on Thursday.

His father Muhammad Askari decided to bury their child in their native village and booked a PIA flight on Friday to transport the body. The 9 am flight was delayed for four hours and when the plane landed at Skardu airport the parents were informed that the coffin was “mistakenly” left in Islamabad. The family protested at the airport for three hours and were assured by the PIA and Civil Aviation Authority officials that the body would be brought on Saturday. It is learnt that the flight was delayed to accommodate Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engr Amir Muqam as a result of which the incident happened.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan