Pakistani woman among US air crash victims

WASHINGTON: A US national of Pakistani origin woman was among the passengers killed when a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane in the United States on Thursday.

The deceased woman has been identified as Asri Hussain, wife of Hamad Raza. The husband of the woman told local media that at around 8pm as the plane approached Reagan National Airport, his wife texted him from her mobile phone that their plane was about to land.

When Hamad sent a message in reply, it was never received by her. Unfortunately, this proved to be Asri’s last message. She was on board US Airlines Flight 5342 when it was hit by a Black Hawk helicopter being used by US military for training.

Asri Hussain had gone to Kansas and was returning when the tragedy struck.

Hamad Raza was married to Asri Hussain two years ago. Asri was about 26 years old and Hamad is aged 25 years. Both are graduates of Indiana University. 

Hamad Raza’s father Dr. Hashim Raza is from Karachi. He is a graduate of Dow University. Dr. Hashim Raza is considered to be one of the best doctors in Missouri. He currently works at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

It may be mentioned here that all the 60 passengers and four crew members on board the ill-fated American Airlines flight were declared dead. 

Three of the officers on the military plane were also killed. The wreckage of the crashed passenger plane has been removed in three parts, which fell into the Potomac River a few feet deep.