Farooq Bhoja's name placed on ECL: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the owner of Bhoja Airline, Farooq Bhoja has been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Malik said, ”It is being said that the aircraft was pretty old, so it has been ordered to investigate thoroughly the air worthiness of the Bhoja Air aircraft.”

Malik added that a probe committee has been constituted to investigate the airplane crash.

”The causes will be investigated, whether it was any fault in the aircraft, it was lightning, the bad weather or any other factor that caused loss of precious lives,” he said. The plane’s flight data recording systems, key to any investigation, have been recovered.

The Bhoja Airline's flight from Karachi burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of Islamabad on Friday evening as it approached the city's international airport.

The airline said the Boeing 737 was carrying 121 passengers, including 11 children, as well as six crew.