Seven children drown in Thatta

They were bathing in the Indus while attending a wedding ceremony

HYDERABAD: Seven children drowned in the Indus River in Thatta district on Friday, turning the wedding celebrations their families were attending into mourning.

According to eyewitnesses, the children, all aged between six to nine years, had been swimming in the water in Daim Marri village, Jhirk.

Thatta SSP Dr Imran stated that the children, who all belonged to the Marri community, had been swimming in a pond alongside the river.

“The children drowned while trying to rescue each other,” said a local man. He added that despite repeated calls, authorities failed to reach the incident site.

The children were retrieved from the water by local divers and they were taken to the Rural Health Centre in Jhirk, where they were all declared dead.

The deceased were identified as seven-year-old Koonj, six-year-old Benazir, nine-year-old Aamir, six-year-old Rafiq, seven-year-old Raheem, five-year-old Bashir and Azeem.

The bodies were later taken back to the village in a mini-truck, due to the absence of an ambulance at the health facility.

“It is premature to say whether the children belonged to one village or various areas. The government has started legal formalities,” said local journalist Mehboob Brohi.

Taking notice of the tragedy and expressing grief at the deaths, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered the Hyderabad commissioner to submit a report after inquiring into the incident. Demanding to know how the incident occurred and whose negligence caused it, he told the relevant officials to cooperate with the children’s parents in every possible way.