Accident: Out of the rickshaw, into the canal

Two drown as seven passengers fall into the Akram Wah Canal.

HYDERABAD:

Two people drowned and five others of a family were rescued when an auto rickshaw fell into the Akram Wah Canal in Husri area of Hyderabad on Friday.

According to Allah Dino Shoro, one of the survivors, said they were going to a doctor in Husri. The rickshaw skidded to one side because the road was muddy and uneven. “They [the victims] might have been safe if the canal had a protection wall,” he said.

The victims were identified as Sameena Shoro, 25, and Saima Shoro, 10. Six-month-old Shahbaz Shoro, 70-year-old Khairain Shoro and three others, including the driver, fell into the canal but were rescued. Except for the driver, who fled from the scene, all of the passengers belonged to the same family and lived in Allah Juryo Shoro village.

Such accidents have become quite common in the city. Three unfenced canals pass through thickly populated areas of Phuleli, Hala Naka and Paretabad in City taluka and parts of Hyderabad Rural taluka.

The idea of fencing the canals floated around a few years back but nothing was done about it.

Only one private diver from Husri took part in rescue efforts while the district administration waited for other private divers whom they called from Kotri and Jamshoro.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2012.