Artists and actors decry child's death in Karachi

Grief deepened into a collective rage after the death of three-year-old Ibrahim, who slipped into an open manhole near Nipa flyover in Karachi during a family outing and was found lifeless hours later after a delayed, chaotic rescue effort.

Celebrities condemned the tragedy as a brutal indictment of civic collapse, with Mahira Khan saying the mother's helpless screams reflected "unimaginable apathy" and demanding to know who, if anyone, was answerable for a city where a child could vanish into negligence.

Sajal Ali said she was heartbroken at witnessing a "collapsing failed system", adding that Ibrahim's parents waited for a miracle that never arrived because Karachi had no functioning emergency structure capable of saving a life lost to an uncovered drain.

Adnan Siddiqui said authorities "couldn't be bothered to cover a manhole", calling the incident a preventable failure that suggested human life meant little to those tasked with safeguarding the city's most basic public spaces and essential infrastructure.

Ahsan Khan asked the child to forgive those who failed him, while highlighting stolen covers, zero monitoring and the absence of night-time rescue services as reasons children keep dying in manholes and storm drains across Karachi every single year.

Ahsan Mohsin Ikram described himself as completely devastated, with Zhalay Sarhadi questioning how many more families must endure such loss before Karachi finally secures amenities that have long been standard elsewhere, including the simple act of covering manholes.

Talha Yunus said his heart wept and his blood boiled at what he called systemic incompetence, adding that Karachi in 2026 remained a place where public safety was an afterthought and urban decay continued to endanger its youngest residents every day.

Bushra Ansari also intervened, saying she was exhausted watching Karachi fall apart after decades of neglect, recalling a cleaner, welcoming city and asking why those in power never fix the metropolis that sustains millions yet receives almost nothing in return.

Her frustration echoed public sentiment as residents held protests, burned tyres and demanded the mayor's resignation, insisting that Ibrahim's death was not an accident but the result of years of political apathy, crumbling infrastructure and unchecked municipal mismanagement.

Edhi Foundation figures show 23 people, including several children, have died this year after falling into open manholes or drains, reinforcing the scale of negligence now shaping Karachi's daily life and the anger intensifying across the city.