Factory worker, ragpicker drown

The father of five daughters, who was a factory worker, lost his life after drowning into a storm water drain in Karachi as the rain turned into a curse due to the incompetence of the government.

Fakhar Alam, 45, was the only breadwinner for his family. He drowned in a drain near Ali Enterprises in the Baldia Town area on Saturday night.

The tragedy took place when he had left home during the rain on Saturday night to go to work at a dyeing factory.

Rescue workers recovered the body from the drain on Sunday and shifted it to the Civil Hospital, Karachi. It was later moved to a morgue where the family identified him.

The deceased man was a resident of Baldia Town Sector 5-L and worked at a dyeing factory in the SITE area. “Yesterday, my brother-in-law left home for work, but when he didn't return home by morning, we first inquired at the factory and found out that he had not reached there. Normally, he would go to the factory on his motorcycle daily, but due to the rain, he said he would take a rickshaw,” narrated the victim’s brother-in-law while speaking outside the morgue. “We later found out that his body was retrieved from a drain in Baldia Town. This is a moment of pain for us and the family. His death is the responsibility of the Karachi administration that has ruined the city.”

Alam’s three daughters are married and the remaining two are minors. “We won't demand anything from the government because they are useless people. They will never be of any help to anyone,” his brother-in-law said.

Police suspect that the deceased slipped and fell into the drain during the rain.

Similarly, a garbage collector drowned in a ditch near the degree college in Manghopir while he was carrying his cart in a water-filled street.

His body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the deceased was identified as 25-year-old Bashir Khan.

Separately, two women were injured when the roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rain in the Sharafi Goth area. They were transferred to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

According to the police, it was a cement lintel roof, which was weak and collapsed due to heavy rain.