A woman’s tragic bid to save son

Boat accident survivor braves river flow for hours while tightly clasping child

BAHAWALNAGAR:

The River Sutlej boat accident case would echo for days and months to come. Many lives were lost in that tragedy.

However, out of the tragedy emerges a tale that reiterates the essence of motherhood.

In the incident to be mentioned in the lines below, one woman passenger of the ill-fated boat put her child’s life before that of her own. Unfortunately, she could not save her child. But her efforts to save her child’s life were herculean, to say the least.

But let’s begin at the beginning.

According to sources, Mussawir Bodla and his extended family lived in Chak Makhan in Bahawalnagar. However, when water from the River Sutlej started flowing inland, Bodla and his family took up temporary residence in Chak Sojka, which happened to be located near their native village.

The family lived uneasily in their temporary abode.

Days passed before they learnt that water level in Chak Makhan had receded and water in their home had been absorbed by heat and that it was now safe for them to return to their place of residence of many years.

It was time the family returned to Chak Makhan in Bahawalnagar.

And so they embarked on the ill-fated wooden ferry. Mussawir Bodla was accompanied by her wife and their three children besides Bodla’s mother-in-law.

Soon the ferry set sail carrying a load of 50 people, 16 motorcycles and 30 bags of compost.

The ferry had only covered a moderate distance before it met with the accident.

Panic spread among the horde of people, and the harsh struggle for survival began.

No wonder the ferry didn’t have any lifejackets or even ordinary tubes to come to the aid of its passengers. In the meantime, death had been staring the 50-odd people in the face.

They started jumping into the river. The ill-fated family of Mussawir Bodla was also among those who jumped into the water, but before jumping overboard, Mussawir handed one of his sons to his wife, the other to his mother-in-law while he held his daughter himself and jumped into the river.

Mussawir’s wife held her child on her shoulders and jumped into the river. The mother and child floated in the merciless waves of the river.

Mussawir’s wife had been so exhausted that she was about to pass out. Nevertheless, the flow of water got her near the shore where the people who had gathered there after hearing about the tragedy extended their helping hands and brought the persons onto the shore.

When the woman regained her senses she found her son dead. Moreover, there had been no trace of other family members. And so ended the saga of the family’s aspiration to return home.

Death toll

So far, the number of bodies recovered from the river has increased to 10, and the search for the remaining bodies is going on.

Eyewitnesses said that when the boat started moving towards the destination, it went a short distance before it overturned.

When the boat was going down, people’s screams appeared to be apocalyptic.

Everyone had jumped into the water to save their lives. Some people began to swim towards the shore, drowning and floating. At the same time, when the private motorboats of a man in the vicinity heard those screams, they rushed their launches towards the scene.

Some people managed to reach the shore on their own, and many others were brought ashore by those private launches.

Meanwhile, the River Sutlej has wreaked havoc in all the areas around it. Standing crops on thousands of acres have been destroyed, and thousands of people became homeless. People have no refuge, and even fodder for the animals is not available.

Some sources say that people were dying of hunger and thirst.

The district administration claims that it has set up many relief camps. However, it appears that the camps exist on paper only. There were reports of people protesting at Mian Sahib Relief Camp, two to three kilometers off Bahawalnagar city.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2023.