CCTV video of child's fall into manhole goes viral

Another clip shows dumper truck damaging the gutter's lid on Nov 17

KARACHI:

CCTV footage reveals how three-year-old Ibrahim fell into a manhole on Sunday night and how its cover went missing. The clip has gone viral on the social media.

Footage released on Wednesday shows Ibrahim leaving a departmental store with his mother.

Running a few steps ahead, he moved towards his father near the motorcycle parking area and suddenly fell into the uncovered gutter. His mother and father rushed to save him, with the mother calling out for help. Several people gathered, but the child was swept away by the strong flow of water.

After 15 hours of search eff orts, Ibrahim's body was recovered from another manhole located about half a kilometre away from the site.

A second CCTV clip shows that at 2:05am on November 17, several dumpers passed in front of the store. One dumper, travelling the wrong way, drove over the manhole, dislodging the cover which fell inside. The vehicle is suspected to belong to a contractor working on a provincial government project, carrying debris from development work of an ongoing BRT project on the University Road. The footage clearly shows the cover being displaced. According to the time-stamped clips, the manhole cover had been missing for nearly 13 days.

On the directives of the Sindh chief minister, Assistant Commissioner Gulshan-e-Iqbal Syed Amir Ali led a team to the site. He told The Express Tribune that the CM has appointed the deputy commissioner of District East to head the inquiry committee.