Amid tears and sobs: Five more bodies taken out of TT Singh canal

A tractor trolley carrying 37 people had fallen in the canal during a race.

FAISALABAD:

Five more bodies were recovered from a canal in Toba Tek Singh on Saturday a day after a tractor trolley carrying 37 people fell into it, police said.

Rescue teams from Toba Tek Singh, Jhang and Khanewal were searching for the remaining eight people by the time this report was filed.

Nineteen of the passengers had jumped out of the trolley to save their lives.

Bodies of Salma, Nadia, Rabia, Farzana, Sher Bahadur, Aysha, Shabana, Nadeem, Sumera and Saqlain have been recovered so far. They were all children.

Scores of villagers and relatives of those drowned staged a protest demonstration at the site of the accident. They accused the authorities of conducting a sluggish rescue operation. “They have failed to recover all the bodies more than 24 hours after the tragedy,” said Muhammad Ismaeel, one of the protesters.

“Rescue teams do not have proper equipment. Of the five boats brought to the scene, only two were operational,” he told the media.

Punjab Assembly member (MPA) Mian Muhammad Rafiq and MPA Khalid Ghani supervised the rescue operation.

District Coordination Officer Farah Masood said they had closed the canal after the accident. “It’s a deep canal and water level is reducing gradually.” Arooti police have registered a case against tractor trolley driver Akbar Ali on the complaint of Bashir Ahmad, one of the survivors.

“We have arrested Akbar Ali and registered a case against him under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 322 (unintentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code,” Arooti Station House Officer Muhammad Akram told The Express Tribune.

Ahmad told police that 37 people were travelling on the tractor trolley after visiting the shrine of Baba Sultan in Chak 711 in Toba Tek Singh. He said Akbar Ali, the driver, was speeding and driving recklessly along the canal.

Ahmad said the driver lost control on the wheel during the race and drove into the canal.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2014.