Helicopter relief: Two girls drown during food search in water

Bodies recovered after an hour by villagers in Jagan area of Shikarpur.

SHIKARPUR:

Two young girls strayed into floodwater and drowned on Thursday during their struggle to pick up relief goods thrown from a helicopter in the Jagan area of Shikarpur district.

According to details, seven-year-old Zoya and nine-year-old Gulnaz rushed to pick up ration bags dropped by a helicopter in their village on Thursday, when they fell into deep water, accumulated as a result of heavy rains and floods.

The girls were unable to traverse through the water, which had inundated Shikarpur and Khanpur two weeks ago and is yet to be drained.

They apparently cried out for help but no one was available to rescue them. Their bodies were recovered after an hour from the water by villagers.

Helicopters routinely drop ration bags for flood victims in several areas.

“Children, women and men run when they see a helicopter flying over their areas. Our girls rushed to some relief items thrown by a helicopter and fell into the deep water,” said Muhammad Sharif Bhayo, Gulnaz’s father.

District authorities avoid distributing relief goods directly, saying that they are not given to the flood victims in inaccessible areas.

Over 50,000 houses have been damaged in Shikarpur district. The government has provided around 5,000 tents but sources say that about half of them are given to those who are politically influential.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), monsoon flooding has left 375 people dead and affected more than 4,400, 000 lives in Pakistan.

Additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.