Bara bridge collapse: 4th day brings no success in search operation

Locals say not one but two people are still missing

PESHAWAR: The person reported missing who is said to have fallen in Bara River after the bridge collapsed on Thursday could not be found on the fourth day of the rescue operation on Sunday. 

The rescue team kept searching till 1pm but found no traces of the body. Work was resumed after a team from the irrigation department filled half of the river bed with stones and earth to divert the flow of water so that rescue workers could continue with the operation.

However, people nearby claimed not one but two people are missing as they say they saw three people on the bridge when it collapsed; the remains of one were fished out on Friday.

“Government officials refused to divert the flow of water on the first day of rescue work—we don’t know why. Had they helped, the bodies might have been found,” a local, Sadaqatullah, told The Express Tribune.

However, Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Bilal Faizi said they were contacted by the father of one person, Haroon, and the family of Habib Khan, whose body has been found.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2015.