Karachi Mayor apologises for Ibrahim’s death, announces official suspensions

He urges citizens to report missing covers, infrastructure issues via 1334 helpline

Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab addressed the tragic death of little three-year-old Ibrahim, calling the incident “unbearable, shameful, and extremely painful.” He said, “As a father, I can deeply feel the grief of the family. May God never let another mother lose her child”.

He visited the Ibrahim's home, met family members, and offered a personal apology, adding, “I told them that if they deem it appropriate, they may forgive me. This tragedy has caused me deep regret”.

The mayor announced disciplinary actions after the Sindh Chief Minister-led meeting. “The relevant engineer of Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation has been suspended, the KMC Senior Director has been suspended, the district Mukhtiarkar and Assistant Commissioner have also been suspended, and the suspension of SSP East and the relevant DSP has been approved. This is only the beginning, more action will follow once the inquiry is completed,” he said.

Addressing issues during the rescue, he noted crowd interference hampered operations. “Around 12 to 14 people were standing around the manhole, which prevented machinery and rescue teams from working,” he said, stressing the need for a clear SOP for such incidents.

On city infrastructure, he highlighted missing manhole covers and thefts. “The city has 245,000 manhole covers, of which 88,000 new covers have been installed in the last year. Police know where stolen goods are sold, and the interior minister has assured action against such scrap markets”.

He urged citizens to report missing covers or infrastructure issues via the 1334 helpline, noting, “If anywhere a manhole cover is missing, citizens should immediately inform the administration”.

The Mayor added that budgets for the Town Chairperson have been increased from Rs500,000 to Rs1.2 million per month and said, “The city’s infrastructure will be further strengthened so that such a tragedy never happens again”.

Earlier, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had held Red Line BRT authorities and the management of Chase Up responsible for the death of Ibrahim, who fell into a manhole near Nipa Chowrangi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Sunday night. The child’s body was recovered after a 14-hour search near Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology.

According to the KMC report, submitted to the Secretary of the Local Government Department, the tragedy occurred because excavation work for the Red Line BRT project had severely damaged the drainage system. Temporary two-foot covers placed over the drains were inadequate to prevent accidents.

The report emphasised that the BRT authorities had not informed KMC before starting the work, and that such unsafe practices—using substandard temporary covers and leaving manholes open—had never been employed by the municipal corporation. KMC said negligence on the part of BRT was a key factor in the child’s death.