Down the Drain: Boy dies after falling in gutter drain

FAISALABAD: A minor disabled boy was killed after he fell into an open manhole in the Peoples Colony police station precincts on Monday. Jewan Singh Wala resident Asad, 12, was walking on the road with his family when he accidentally slipped and fell into an open gutter near Chin-One Road at night. Rescue 1122 workers rushed to the spot and pulled the boy out but his condition was critical. Asad was shifted to a private hospital but succumbed to his injuries en route. Area residents protested against Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) authorities for several hours and demanded that the officials responsible for monitoring the road be suspended. Wasa managing director Zahid Aziz claimed that this was not a Wasa gutter and the incident was not their responsibility.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2011.