Six people managed to swim to safety. The remaining seven, however, were not as fortunate.. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
Four members of a family were among the seven people who drowned when a boat carrying 13 people capsised in River Indus near Nehar Pattan, the katcha area of Kashmore, on Friday.
Villagers of the katcha area where on their way to Badani Town when the boat, loaded with wood, overturned near Nehar Pattan and all the passengers fell in the river. Six people - Pehalwan Khaldi, Muneer Khaldi, Hazoor Bux Dangar, Sajjad Ali Khaldi, Mohammad Hanif Khaldi and Deedar Shah - managed to swim to safety. The remaining seven, however, were not as fortunate.
Talib Hussain, his 8-year-old son Jameel, and his two brothers, 18-year-old Asif Ali and 14-year-old Wahid Ali, drowned in the tragic incident. The others were identified as Sudheer Khaldi, Abid Ali Dangar and Sultan Malik.
According to sources, the boat was too old to carry heavy load which is why it capsized. The rescue operation by divers continued till Saturday early morning but not a single body was found till filing of this report.
Badani police station SHO Sikandar Soomro confirmed to The Express Tribune that the boat was overloaded. Villagers and Navy divers were still looking for the people, he said, adding that the MNA Ehsan Mazari, MPA Haji Abdul Rauf Khoso, Sardar Saleem Jan Mazari, Kashmore SSP Younus Chandio and others district officers were supervising the rescue operation. The water level was 40 to 50 feet deep which is why the rescue work was facing difficulties, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2013.
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