Triple tragedy: 2 sisters drown ‘trying to save father’

Toddler dies in kite string accident.

MULTAN:

Two girls, 8 and 11, drowned on Saturday when they jumped into River Chenab after their father, who had gone out of his depth and slipped.

The girls’ mother, Surayya Bibi told The Express Tribune that the family had gone to Head Muhammad Wala for a picnic. Muhammad bin Yamin, the father, had taken a net with him and had waded into deep water to try and catch fish, when he had slipped.

Watching their father disappear under water, the girls – Ayesha Bibi and Chand Bibi – standing at the bank jumped into the river, said Surayya Bibi. “They were trying to save their father,” she said.

Bin Yamin was rescued by other picnickers but they could not find the girls. Rescue 1122 were called in for help.

The girls’ bodies were found after three hours and were handed over to the family.

Kite string cuts toddler’s throat

A two-year-old boy died on Saturday after his throat was cut by a glass-coated kite string. He had been on a motorbike and was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

His uncle Mohammad Zeeshan told The Express Tribune that Subhaan had insisted on accompanying him when he was going to drop off his elder brothers at a tuition centre.

Zeeshan said that they had dropped off his brothers and were near Chungi no1 in Cantt when the string cut his throat. He said he had rushed to Nishtar Hospital, “which was less than a minute’s drive but he did not survive.”

The child’s family staged a protest and refused to take the body home until the police took action against those responsible. The police then sent the body for a post mortem.

An FIR for murder was registered at the Cantt police station. Cantt SHO Nasrullah Warraich told The Tribune that they had arrested three men from a house on the road where the incident took place. Zeeshan told the police he had seen three men flying kites from the rooftop of the house.

Following the child’s death, Cantt SP Rana Mansoorul Haq told The Tribune that the police had confiscated more than 8,000 kites in a two-hour operation. As many as 70 kite flyers and 12 kite and string sellers were also arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2012.