Three children drown in canal in Multan

Ill-fated minors were travelling in a motorcycle rickshaw when it fell in canalThree children died when a motorcycle rickshaw full of passengers fell into the canal due to brake failure.

The accident took place near Tala Bridge in Multan.

The bodies of two children were found initially.

However, the body of seven-year-old Masoom Iman Fatima was found a day after the accident.

The brakes of the rickshaw failed, and it fell into the canal due to high speed.

Several people were pulled out of the canal alive.

Meanwhile, at least 27 people died while 1404 sustained injuries in 1242 road accidents across 37 districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. Over 700 people who had sustained serious injuries were shifted to different hospitals.

The majority of the accidents (75%) involved motorbikes. Furthermore, 666 drivers, 51 underage drivers, 150 pedestrians and 615 passengers were among the victims of those accidents. Statistics showed that 288 accidents were reported in Lahore, which affected 314 people, placing the provincial capital at the top of the list of the cities where road crashes took place. Lahore was followed by Gujranwala with 89 victims and Faisalabad with 86 victims.

Last month four people of the same family had drowned when a motorcycle 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. All the people in the rickshaw were said to belong to the same family.

A large number of local people also assisted in the rescue operation.

District in charge of Rescue 1122 Rao Sharafat Ali Khan had told The Express Tribune that four teams of 60 rescue workers participated in the operation.

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.

In the month of August last year, a rickshaw overturned allegedly due to high speed near 79 Morr in Thikriwala, killing three children who fell off the vehicle and into a pond.

Police retrieved the bodies from the pond and handed them over to their relatives.

Farzal Ali, a resident of Chak No. 139/GB, had been to the Darbar Baba Rang Ali along with his nephews in his rickshaw to offer prayers and respects.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2023.