"So coronavirus outside but not inside flight?": Amateur video shows Pakistanis complaining about no social distancing in PIA flight
Apr 29, 2020
Karachi [Pakistan], April 29 : An amateur video has emerged on social media from Pakistan International Airlines flight, in which passengers are seen complaining about overcharged tickets and lack of social distancing as highly contagious coronavirus continues to grip the world.
"According to you people, coronavirus is outside but not inside the flight. If anything will happen to me, I will sue you guys," an aggrieved passenger tells PIA officials in the video filmed inside the aircraft.
Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan, burst out to other countries before sweeping the continents, reaching as far as Europe and United States of America.
Millions of people have been affected, thousands have been killed by the deadly pathogen. Airports and planes are considered as the carrier of the highly contagious virus, which spreads from human to human.
The pandemic has led to countries going in for lockdown to maintain social distancing in order to contain the spread of the disease.
Even as airports remain shut, special flights are operated to airlift stranded passengers. But the viral video, of inside Karachi-Toronto flight, tells a different tale- crowded cabin, passengers stacking up cabin luggage, social distancing going for a toss.
"All airlines have removed seats but you," a lady sternly tells the airline staff, who has nothing to say to placate the passengers.
Pakistan, with its under-resourced provinces, is among the worst-hit countries in South Asia.
According to an official estimate, there are nearly 11,000 active cases in the country where a weak health infrastructure, coupled with ineptitude of the adminstration, have been at the centre of concerns.
Earlier this month, the images of President Dr Arif Alvi wearing the high-end N-95 medical mask, raked up a controversy with the country's medical association saying that politicians are often seen wearing N-95 masks but health professionals are facing a dire shortage of these masks and personal protective equipment.
This lack of apathy is visible in the viral video from inside the flight.
"We bought tickets only after we were assured that seats next to us would remain vacant and that there would be distancing. But after coming inside the flight we can see that all seats are occupied," says a woman.
"Do you think we are fools? The government only wants to get money out of overseas people," the passengers added.
