PIA brings back stranded Pakistanis in Iraq

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – A special flight of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) brought home 136 Pakistanis stranded in Iraq due to suspension of international flights since March 21. PIA flight PK9814 carrying 136 stranded Pakistanis from Baghdad landed at Islamabad on early Wednesday. The passengers include disabled persons, women, children and elderly people. The Pakistani Ambassador and embassy staff in Baghdad helped facilitate the Pakistanis to get back home. At Islamabad International Airport, the passengers and PIA crew underwent medical check-up and screening. 135 passengers and 11 crew members were shifted to quarantine centres in hotels. A passenger was having temperature so he was shifted to Islamabad’s PIMS hospital. The rest of the passengers and crew will undergo blood screening and if found negative will be allowed to go to their homes. On April 7, PIA pilots refused to bring back the stranded Pakistanis from Iraq after two pilots and an air hostess of the flag carrier tested positive for coronavirus. These Pakistanis were stranded abroad for the past two weeks due to suspension of flights by other airlines, he said. They had appealed to the Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Ministry. CEO PIA, Air Marshal Arshad Malik on the directives of Prime Minister of Pakistan, immediately instructed the PIA officials to arrange relief flights in the shortest possible time.