VOA标准英语2010年-Pakistan Mourns Air Crash Victims

People mourn deaths of their family members at a local hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, 28 Jul 2010

Pakistan is observing a day of national mourning after 152 people were killed in the country's worst-ever air disaster.  Officials say weather is impeding¹ the search underway to find the "black box" with all of the flight data prior to the crash.  Pakistani authorities say the heavy monsoon² rains also are hampering³ efforts to recover the remains⁴ of victims in the Margalla hills surrounding Islamabad, where Wednesday's plane crash occurred.

 

Officials suspect thick fog and rainy weather are the most likely reasons for the worst aviation accident in Pakistan.

National Disaster Management Authority head Nadeem Ahmed said that rescue teams have recovered most of the bodies, while technical experts are still searching for the Flight Data Recorder - commonly known as the "black box" - to look into the cause of the deadly crash.

"We are still continuing with the combing and search operation in the Margalla hills," said Ahmed.  "We have teams from the army, navy as well as the civil aviation authority.  The civil aviation authority is, of course, looking for flight data recorder and collecting the other evidence which will help them find out what was the cause of the accident."

 

The control tower at the Islamabad airport has been sealed off and investigators⁵ are examining radio traffic between the plane and the tower to determine causes of the crash.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a news conference in Islamabad about 70 bodies have been identified and handed over to their relatives, while experts are conducting DNA⁶ tests to identify remains of other victims. 

The government declared a day of national mourning for the victims. 

The commercial passenger plane belonging to the private "Airblue" service was coming from the southern port city of Karachi and crashed as it attempted to land at Islamabad's international airport.  All of the 152 people on board were killed, including the six crew members.

Top officials of the private airline maintained the Airbus 321 was not very old and there was nothing technically⁷ wrong with it.  Airblue is the biggest private airline in Pakistan and started its domestic and limited overseas operations in 2004.

U.S. President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders offered condolences to the families of the victims, who included two U.S citizens.  Foreign Ministry⁸ spokesman Abdul Basit thanked all of them for expressing solidarity⁹ with Pakistan at this painful time.

"The people and the government of Pakistan are thankful to all those foreign leaders who have sent messages of condolence and shared our national grief," said Basit.

The last major aviation accident within Pakistan occurred in 2006 when a passenger plane belonging to the state-run Pakistan International Airlines crashed near the central city of Multan, killing¹⁰ 45 people.
 

1 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

3 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

7 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。