WEB DESK: Funeral prayers in absentia were offered for K2 Airways First Officer Faisal Jatoi, who remains missing after the airline’s cargo aircraft crashed into the Arabian Sea earlier this month.
The prayers were held near Jatoi’s hometown of New Jatoi, where relatives, local residents, political representatives, community leaders, and social figures gathered to pay their respects. Those in attendance also offered condolences to his father and other members of the bereaved family.
The K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo aircraft went down in the sea near Ormara on July 7 while returning to Karachi from Sharjah.
Five crew members were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash. They included Captain Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, Aircraft Engineer Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, Aircraft Engineer Muhammad Hamid, and Load Master Muhammad Taufiq. Authorities have not located any of the crew members so far.
Search and recovery efforts remain underway, but officials have yet to make a significant breakthrough more than a week after the accident.
Investigators are still searching for key parts of the aircraft, including the cockpit, fuselage, engines, and the flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box, which is considered vital to determining the cause of the crash.
According to sources, the Coast Guard has intensified patrols along the coastal belt, while search operations continue in surrounding waters for debris and possible evidence.
The Pakistan Navy and the Maritime Security Agency are leading deep-sea search efforts beyond 12 nautical miles from the coast. Navy divers have also carried out underwater searches in an effort to recover the aircraft’s wreckage and other critical components.
Aviation officials said the exact cause of the crash cannot be established until investigators recover and examine the aircraft’s engines and black box. Search and salvage operations near Ormara are expected to continue in the coming days.
