Four of a family drown in canal
Rescue workers scour the canal in a boat during a search for the accident victims. photo: express
Four people of the same family drowned when the rickshaw they had been travelling in fell into a canal in a suburb of Bahawalnagar.
Nine people had been traveling in the rickshaw. They were going to see their relatives in Donga Bonga, a nearby village.
Four people died while five others were rescued.
Among the dead were two women and two girls.
The rescue authorities carried out an operation and fished out the bodies of Irshad, Shamim and Yasmeen from the canal while the search was on for Asia.
All the people in the rickshaw were said to belong to the same family.
A large number of local people were also assisting in the rescue operation.
District in charge of Rescue 1122 Rao Sharafat Ali Khan told The Express Tribune that four teams of 60 rescue workers participated in the operation.
The operation to find the 14-month-old baby continued for five hours.
When dusk descended, the operation was suspended. It would be resumed early in the morning.
Some people said that the government had not constructed roads in the area. If the road had been built, this tragic accident would not have happened. People faced serious problems with unpaved roads.
They also said that the staff of the department concerned did not repair the barriers alongside the canal due to which many people had been seriously injured and many others lost their lives in various accidents.
Last month, two classmates had drowned in a pond in Daska.
The tragedy struck in the village of Dhamonke as two Grade VII friends drowned in a nearby pond. The incident led to chaos in the area as the bodies of the two boys were recovered.
According to reports, five friends had gone to bathe in the pond, with three returning safely while the other two did not.
When the missing boys failed to return, the rest of the group informed locals who immediately began searching for the missing boys. Tragically, the bodies of the two friends, Subhan Butt and Manahil Butt, were found in the water.
Witnesses reported that the two friends had been clutching at each other’s hands when they were found, suggesting they had drowned while trying to save each other.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2023.