Accident: Teenager drowns in canal while filling breach

Body of the deceased, identified as a 16 year old, was fished out by residents of the area working with him.

MULTAN:

A teenager drowned in Murad Canal in Chak 119 on Sunday while helping fill a breach in the canal.

The body of the deceased, identified as Muhammad Farooq, 16, was fished out by residents of the area working with him.

Irrigation Department official Ghulam Hussain, in charge of the operation, said release of water from the source near Sadqia Division Canal had been stopped. He said work was underway to fill the 200-feet breach.

Residents including Abdur Rehman, Muhammad Saleem, Muhammad Arshad and Rehmat Ali Chaudhry accused the Irrigation Department of negligence and said that a team had arrived at the scene after a five-hour delay. They said they had started filling the breach on their own when no officials came. They said water from the breach had inundated farms in Chak 128, Chak 129 and Chak 130.

In Mankera, four teenagers drowned in a rain water pond in Kheo village on Sunday. They were between 15 and 16 years old and students of 10th grade. Residents said they had gone to the area for a picnic.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2012.