Social media posts claiming Pakistani cricketer Yasir Shah died in the Pakistan Airlines flight which crashed in Karachi, are false. BOOM reached out to Pakistan Cricket Board who said that the posts are false and that Shah was never on the plane that crashed.
A Pakistan Airlines flight - PK 833 crashed in Model Colony near Jinnah international airport, Karachi. The flight with 85 passengers and six crew members was headed to Karachi from Lahore and is said to have crashed minutes before landing. According to media reports, 92 people have died due to the crash while two passengers have said to have survived the crash.
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Shah, a member of the Pakistan cricket team, is a leg spinner of repute. He is a specialist Test bowler and last played for the country in a Test match against Bangladesh in February.
The claim has been shared multiple times on Twitter and Facebook.
The text of the claim on Facebook reads, "Heart Breaking News: Pakistani Test Cricketer Yasir Shah Died in Plane Crush Karachi.. According to BCC news Yasir shah was in the plane when this incident was happend😣 May Almighty Allah give him heighest rank in jannah"
This post on Facebook also includes a photo of a body of an unidentified person with the claim that Yasir Shah died in the plane crash.
Death of #YasirShah one of the greatest spinner of present era in a plane crash at Karach Pakistan is deeply saddened. We ll miss you @YasirShah.you were one of my most favourite bowler of all time. May Allah grant you higher place on jamnah
— ShabirArzoo (@ShabirArzoo5) May 22, 2020
Fact Check
BOOM found that the claims are false and that Shah was not a passenger on the said flight.
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Pakistani news portals Dawn and Geo reported names of the passengers on board the flight, and Shah did not feature in the same. There was no passenger named 'Yasir' either.
Below is the list of passengers on the flight.
Page 1 of the list of passengers on flight PIA 8303
Page 2 of the list of passengers on flight PIA 8303
BOOM reached out to Raza Kitchlew, Senior Manager, Pakistan Cricket team and Operations who denied the claims and said, "Shah is perfectly fine." Mr Kitchlew further added, "He was not in the flight. All (posts about his death are) rumours."