Headlines 9am: Crash rescue operations completed, coronavirus cases touch 50,000

Here are the headlines from SAMAA TV’s 9am bulletin.

• Two people survived the plane crash in Karachi on Friday, while 97 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage. The Sindh health department has confirmed that the survivors are Bank of Punjab President Zafar Masood and a young man named Zubair. There were 91 passengers and eight crew members on board the PIA flight from Lahore to Karachi. Six bodies have been handed over to the victims’ families and 70 families are in contact with the health department. Nineteen people, including the pilot, have been identified.
• The Pakistan Army team has completed its rescue operation and left the crash site. Charitable organisations have been told to stop their operations as well. The bodies have all been retrieved and work to remove the debris is under way.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a summary forming an investigation team to look into the crash. He said the investigation must be started now instead of waiting for the cabinet’s final approval. The chief of army staff has expressed his condolences with the bereaved families.
• A response centre has been set up for information for the victims’ families. According to PIA, there are some issues contacting some of the victims’ next of kin.
• The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will be meeting in Karachi today to sight the Eid moon. The unofficial moon-sighting committee at Peshawar’s Qasim Ali Khan Mosque has announced that Eid will be celebrated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday. Saudi Arabia is celebrating Eid on Sunday.
• Pakistan has reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day, with 2,603 new cases, taking the country’s tally past 50,000. Fifty new deaths have been reported.
• Sindh minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch’s health has deteriorated and he has been shifted to an ICU. He was hospitalised a few days ago after testing positive for the coronavirus.
• Brazil saw 966 deaths in a single day from the coronavirus. America’s daily death toll has decreased and the country saw 1,293 deaths in the past 24 hours. Spain reported 688 deaths while the UK reported 351.
• The Karachi police arrested in Baghdadi robbers captured on film breaking the locks on shops and stealing things.
• US President Donald Trump has asked governors to reopen mosques and churches. He said places of worship are part of daily lives. He said if the governors don’t reopen them, he will take steps himself.

from Coronavirus – SAMAA https://ift.tt/3cXuU6w