Bodies of Zia, Envoy Recovered as Rubble Is Searched for Clues

Air force teams today recovered the bodies of President Zia ul-Haq, U.S. Ambassador Arnold L. Raphel and others as investigators searched for clues to what caused Zia’s military plane to explode.

Businesses were closed today across the country as a three-day period of mourning began, and soldiers were posted at government buildings under a state of emergency declared by the head of a caretaker government, Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

Air force investigators flew to the scene today as unofficial reports and rumors circulated that Zia’s American-made C-130 was sabotaged or shot down.

The remains of the plane lay strewn across a sandy plain near the Indian border in Punjab province. The plane exploded Wednesday after taking off from a nearby desert airport. (Story, Page 18.)

Soldiers slid the flag-draped coffins of Zia, Ambassador Raphel and 28 others onto planes bound for Islamabad and other Pakistani cities where relatives of the victims were waiting.

The government had originally put the death toll at 37.

Most of the wreckage lay in a 100-yard radius. A wing lying about 1,000 yards away was the only piece not charred and mangled when the turpoprop aircraft fell to the ground shortly after takeoff from Bahawalpur.

Ishaq Khan said he could not rule out sabotage but was waiting for a probe to be completed.

A Pakistani air force crash investigation team flew to the scene today in search of the plane’s flight recorder. A similar U.S. team was also expected, but no details were disclosed.

Varied Unofficial Reports

Unofficial reports and rumors circulated that the C-130 was hit by an anti-aircraft missile or a helicopter or was shot down by India.

The United News of India news agency today quoted a “highly placed Pakistani military official” as saying a sophisticated time bomb may have caused the explosion.

It quoted the official, who was not identified by name, as saying the pilot did not radio any message to the control tower. He said the pilot probably would have had time to radio if the plane had been attacked by a missile.

Heavy security surrounded the crash site, which was covered with weeds and stagnant pools. The site is about eight miles northwest of the airport and 330 miles south of Islamabad.

An army brigadier who identified himself only as Zaidi said some witnesses reported seeing the plane explode shortly after takeoff, but others said it was only smoking when it lost altitude and crashed.

“If it burst in the air it would be spread over a large area but it is all in one area,” he said. But he said the far-flung wing was “a puzzle to investigators.”