Three Dead And Several Injured In Pakistan Airlines Workers' Protest
A union strike by Pakistani airline employees against the government's privatization of the national carrier has turned ugly when three picketers and several others were reportedly wounded as a result of deadly clash with the law enforcers.
As protesters stormed through Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, security forces were compelled to use tear gas and water cannons to break the feisty workers' blockade of the main entrance and other passageways.
The Pakistani airline workers' displeasure with the government's privatization plans became a bloody affair when gunshots rang through the confused throng of people.
"The situation escalated when a couple of gunshots were fired. My officers told me that they might be fired from the crowd. We are searching for the empty shells and only then can we establish who opened fire," remarked Kamran Fazal, the police chief of the city's eastern district, as quoted saying by Al Jazeera.
Despite the highly unpopular decision by the government, policymakers are keen to proceed with privatization which has been stalled for several times in the past. The state-owned company is currently touted as one of the most underperforming state-owned companies with an unsustainable debt amounting to approximately $3 billion.
"The debt servicing and other costs are running down PIA. The government doesn't have the money to rescue PIA so there is no choice but to sell the airline," said a senior Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) staff as mentioned in a report by The Financial Times.
Meanwhile, as the protest seems to continue indefinitely, all local and international PIA flights were reportedly cancelled.
"All PIA flights have been suspended indefinitely," confirmed an airport official as stated in article by Pakistan Today.
