The body of the legendary comedian Umer Sharif has been shifted to his home in Karachi from the mortuary on Wednesday morning for his last rites.
The body reached Karachi aboard a Turkish Airlines flight at around 5:33am. His widow Zareen Ghazal also reached Pakistan on board the same plane. His sons and other relatives received his body at the airport. Among others, Pakistan People’s Party leader Saeed Ghani, MQM’s Kishwar Zahra also arrived at the airport’s cargo terminal.
The PPP leader paid tribute to the legend. “I call upon the people to attend his funeral in large numbers as a message to the entire world that Pakistanis remember their legends even after they had passed away,” Ghani told media.
Later, his body wrapped in Pakistan’s green flag has been shifted to the Edhi morgue, Sohrab Goth from the airport. His fans showered his body with rose petals.
Umer Sharif’s sons, Jawad and Fawad, have said that funeral prayers will be offered at 3pm at Umer Sharif Park opposite Zia-ud-Din Hospital in Clifton. Later, he will be buried in the cemetery adjacent to the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
Meanwhile, People in a large number are showing up at Umer Sharif’s residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal to offer their condolences to the bereaved family.
Umer Sharif was admitted to a hospital in Nuremberg, Germany, on Wednesday after his health deteriorated during his flight to the United States. He was shifted to the hospital after his air ambulance made a scheduled landing in Germany.
The comedian was diagnosed with multiple ailments including coronary conditions.
Three days after his stay in Germany, he was expected to resume his travel to the US for medical treatment. However, a couple of hours of his dialysis, he suffered a massive heart attack that took his life.
Umer, 66, was under treatment of Dr Tariq Shahab, the husband of former Pakistani actress Reema Khan.
Dr Tariq said the comedian was feeling fine during his dialysis.
However, a subsequent heart attack proved fatal for him four hours after the dialysis at the Nuremberg South Hospital.
Sharif was born on April 19, 1955, in Liaquatabad, Karachi. The star was well-acclaimed as one of the best comedians in Asia.
