Sindh govt to impose Section 144 as 23 people drown in Karachi beaches
Section 144 bans the a gathering of more than four people at one place for rallies and protests.
Further, one more body has been found-- increasing the total number of bodies to 23 recovered by the Navy Sea King helicopter.
"Nineteen bodies have been pulled out of the sea while the search for four more people continues," Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, the city's top administrator told AFP earlier in the day. The bathers were among thousands who had taken to the beaches to celebrate Eid holidays.
Twenty one of the bodies were recovered off the Clifton Beach area (Sea View), while two were found off Hawks Bay, according to Express News.
Siddiqui added that a search operation had been launched with the help of Navy divers and a helicopter, as well as civil authorities.
Senior police officer Ibadat Nisar said: "The government imposed a ban on swimming in the sea before the start of the monsoon season in June and police were deployed to implement the ban, but people became violent."
Relatives of some of the missing were gathered at Clifton beach, anxiously awaiting word of their loved ones.
Faiz Rehman, 32, said he and his younger brother had come to the beach on Wednesday to go for a swim along with two friends -- who were now missing.
He said: “As we were swimming in the sea, I noticed the waves getting bigger and more rough, and I got scared and started swimming back.”
“I also called my brother and friends to swim back to the shore. My brother returned but my two friends were still swimming as the waves got bigger I lost sight of them.”
"I waited for around three hours but they didn't return."
Administrator Siddiqui added that a search operation had been launched with the help of Navy divers and a helicopter, as well as civil authorities.
The Bahria helicopter pulled four bodies out of the sea, and rescue teams from Edhi and Chhipa are still present as rescue efforts are still underway, Express News reported.
Further, Express News reported that police had attempted to dispel the crowd from the beach on Thursday as people were still flocking to the sea for picnics. The attempt to clear the beach by the police got a little violent with the crowd.
"We are still searching for dead bodies and these people can see the dead bodies with their eyes but they are still fighting with us to allow them to swim in the sea," Fahad Ali, a police official deployed at the beach told AFP.
"These people have came with their family members, there are women and children and you can see kids as young as six and their parents are fighting with us to allow them to swim in the sea," he said.
"This is the height of stupidity," he added.
Efforts are being made to recover a car that submerged in the sea. However, the crane being used to lift the car also got stuck, according to Express News.
Express News screengrab of the crane and car stuck in the sea.
Police have blocked the road leading to Hawks Bay beach for security purposes, resulting in heavy traffic. The orders came from IG Sindh on Thursday morning.
Senior police officer Ibadat Nisar told AFP the government had imposed a ban on swimming in the sea before the start of the monsoon season in June.
IGP Sindh Ghulam Haider Jamali has constituted a high powered inquiry committee under Additional IG Karachi to ascertain facts and responsibility in the tragic drowning incident at Sea View. The committee will submit it’s a report within 24 hours. DIG East, DIG South, SSP Security are members of the committee.
Meanwhile, the IGP suspended the area SHO and removed DSP Darakshan from his position.
Political reactions
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain expressed on Thursday their deep grief and sorrow over the tragic incident in Karachi where 22 people drowned while swimming the sea over the Eid holidays.
In separate messages, the president and the prime minister conveyed their condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan said officials should use all possible resources for the rescue operation.
Furthermore, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain said a ban should be imposed on all Karachi beaches. He expressed sorrow over the loss of lives of young people on Eidul Fitr.
COMMENTS (43)
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So is there any other picnic site with water that's still open ?
@usman786: the 144 is impose in the city ,one on sea view and other on motorcycle Double sawwari....the police is collecting money from the Motorcycle drivers but don't perform duty where money is not coming.
Karachi beach is not like lahore canal or swat river. It's an Arabian ocean sea.
EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN LIFE AND SAFETY. PERIOD. We don't blame the life guards at Bondi beach for people drowning even though they handle thousands of people swimming every weekend. People are illiterate and ignorant if they think the government has a responsibility of everyone who wants to swim in the SEA.
@KK Kool: KMC warn these people, but they didnot listen to kmc by saying its eid day. We need to aware these villagers, something goes wrong u r responsible for your own life. They lack basic education. Urban ppl atleast aware of high tidal waves and monsoon season.
The most irresponsible thing to do in the aftermath of sea incident is to clamp section 144 and thus shunning the responsibility,Sindh government should have instead chalked out a solution to stop such happenings in future rather than stop people from going to seaside,which they never will obey
Typical Pakistani mentality,blame everything on the government. No one takes safety seriously.
Sorry for the loss of precious human lives. But the role of government is pathetic. Section 144 is imposed when more than 20 people have already lost their lives! Picnic along the beach is least expensive option for low-income families from all walks of life because there is no entrance fee etc. Whenever I visited Pakistan (Karachi), I made it a point to visit the Clifton beach and often had a stroll from McDonalds to Floating Ship. I have NEVER seen any Lifeguard along the beach. Probably the PPP government has different priorities.
@as: Your comment is condemnable. I wonder why ET moderator has allowed such a hate comment?
While I was in Karachi, it was a common feature of our week to go to the beach. With that said, we would resist the temptation when there was high tide. It is absolutely stupid to hear people fighting with the law enforcers to let them in the water when they see bodies being brought out of the same beach.
My friends and I had a near death experience once but were lucky enough to have life guards near by who came to the rescue and well here I am today writing this.
My heart goes out to all the families who lost anyone in this tragic incident. I pray to Allah to forgive the departed souls and give patience to their families.
ON Eid Occasion Sindh Govt should have to take strict measures and displayed NOTICE BOARDS/BILLBOARDS 'WHEREBY CLEARLY MENTIONED THAT ' DANGEROUS AREA' ON SEA SIDE THROUGH OUT KARACHI OR ARRANGEMENT OF SECURITY LAW ENFORCES WHO STOP THE PEOPLE WHO CROSS THE LIMITS WHICH ALREADY DISPLAYED. OTHERWISE THESE TYPES OF INCIDENT MIGHT BE HAPPENED IN FUTURE WHEN GOVT OR CHARITY PEOPLE WILL NOT MAKE SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS
FOR ALLAH SAKE, PLEASE SAVE THE HUMAN BEING.
@Fawad: Do you think urban people have Phd in tidal flow dynamics? Rural people do have some knowledge of swimming but how many urban people have access to swimming. Moreover, the water dynamics change completely during monsoon. I suggest watching a movie 'Chasing Mavericks'.
@Hafiz Shah Ali: What are u talking man has any Minister or CM ever resigned due to such happening even if the whole Pakistan dies they will not resign they are only concerned about their chair not the people.
unfortunately, missing play grounds and the few we have are occupied by mafia (for insatance, field hockey grounds in PECHS are), people have not much but the sea, the beautiful sea
@Asif: But lifeguard cann't save all 20 lifes at once.
@Asif: Government??? You are the only commentator who knows something about that term. I see everyone commenting whatever came to their mind except about lifeguards. Safety is not in our bone marrow so we as a nation do not think about that. We always enjoy blaming others specially government full of our elected corrupt leaders.
In this world there is a term called lifeguards . I think our government is not familiar with that
These villagers come to karachi beach have no sense of what Sea waves means.
They thing sea as lake water.
HEIGHT OF STUPIDITY taking your car in sea; and at the end blaming government that there is no signage. it seems common sense is not so common.
.........and our Chief Minister still remains...........amazing.
Chief Minister and Commissioner Karachi should stand up and assume responsibility and resign
Rather than imposing blanket bans, lifeguards should be installed at the beaches along with proper rules which include no swimming with clothes on but rather swimming trunks. Also facilities such as shower, patrol cars and signal flags should be installed.
Typical of wadera corruption party ruling thugs, always taking notice and announcing orders after the incident
The mass deaths betray the subconscious........escape to freedom from an aimless existence in a decaying society.
@Aysha M: Please talk sense woman. You seem to be educated by looking at the language you used. However education does mean you use your brain, which is unfortunately the case for most of Pakistan. Monsoon season is here, the police officials are already telling people not to swim. Now if you want to disobey them and not pay heed to what they are saying then you must be responsible for your own actions. And please power water nahin hai toh ham monsoon kay paani mein nahanay chaltay hain. Grow up ffs
The Sindh government seems to hate being proactive as much as it hates performing it other functions such as looking after public interest. There were young people who just wanted to have some good time, that was their mistake. They should have stayed at home with no power and water. They were looking for simple joys of life on a festive occasion. Did the government run an add campaign and put the statistics out there to make the people aware of dangers of going into deep waters? Karachites have to die,they are destined to die ill-fated deaths because they are Karachiites and nobody to look out for them. They may lose their lives in an armed robbery, hold ups, bomb blasts, mindless killings with police and rangers mere on-lookers, or garment factories, where they enter to work and come out as charred bodies,or last year's loss of lives in monsoon, because the CM has taken upon himself the responsibility of solid waste removal, and at his ripe old age we cannot expect him to clean all the nallas, hence accidents and deaths. Yes they have no one to blame but themselves for trying to feel alive in Karachi.
why there was no warning sign
I regret the lost lives but I do not understand the logic of 144. The Govt should not impose 144 for some utter idiots who not only waste their lives but also by their stupidity censure law abiding citizenry for enjoying the beaches.
regards,
illiterate immigrants of northern areas who live here but dont pay a single penny for tax and are involved in crime. Frankly no sympathies with those who are a part of Karachi crime!
@Aysha N: The Sindh government seems to hate being proactive as much as it hates performing it other functions such as looking after public interest. There were young people who just wanted to have some good time, that was their mistake. They should have stayed at home with no power and water. They were looking for simple joys of life on a festive occasion. Did the government run an add campaign and put the statistics out there to make the people aware of dangers of going into deep waters? Karachites have to die,they are destined to die ill-fated deaths because they are Karachiites and nobody to look out for them. They may lose their lives in an armed robbery, hold ups, bomb blasts, mindless killings with police and rangers mere on-lookers, or garment factories, where they enter to work and come out as charred bodies,or last year's loss of lives in monsoon, because the CM has taken upon himself the responsibility of solid waste removal, and at his ripe old age we cannot expect him to clean all the nallas, hence accidents and deaths. Yes they have no one to blame but themselves for trying to feel alive in Karachi.
If someone wants to drown then why stop him
I feel for the family of these people but kids like the drowned in this case deliberately flaunt the law, thinking they're invincible - they do this while trying to swim in monsoon waters, performing one-wheel tricks on their motorbikes, etc.
They have no one to blame but themselves for their deaths. They have caused their families so much grief because of their arrogance and stupidity.
""after defying a ban on swimming in rough waters during the monsoon season."" Loss of human life is always regretable. But somehow for adrenaline filled morons, that choose to ignore what their parents/elders might say, break traffic laws, create choas on the streets for dont know what kind of "happy" feeling that suggests more like a narcotic high behaviour I just dont feel sorry for "them" Regrets to their families for the loss of their loved ones though..
Saw how your tv channel was humilating Commissioner.....Govt should not stop people from going to sea for taking bath. It happens in UK and other countries as well. If some one is stupid enough to take risk which is in every thing (like driving), then god bless him
This is Pakistan, ENTERTAINMENT NOT ALLOWED !!!! In all seriousness, I consider myself a good swimmer and I have found myself getting caught in the undertow produced by the Monsoon waves. I suspect very few Pakistanis can swim so those that can't certainly have no business being in the water. Secondly, many Pakistanis don't understand the weight that street cloths add when they get wet, for goodness sake please take them off and wear shorts if you insist on going in the water.
While the beach itself is there as an option to enjoy, what we dodon't have is the basic common sense to abide by the rules. Where ever safety instructions are violated, the end is a tragedy like this.
The government can impose ban but not create any options for people to have a breather and be entertained not even on Eid