Four boys on school picnic drown off Sandspit beach

The total number of drownings reported in May reached 15 after four students on a school picnic drowned at Sandspit on Tuesday.

SHO Mauripur police station, Iqbal, said students of the Little Flowers School situated in Orangi Town 11½ had arrived at the beach on a school picnic. He said that rescue teams were called in as soon as the incident was reported.

According to the SHO, a total of eight students were swept away by a high tide, however, the remaining four were rescued in an unconscious condition.

Bodies of three students were recovered by the rescue team a little while into the operation, however, the fourth student’s body was retrieved late Tuesday night.

The victims were identified as Aijaz, son of Azad; Ali Ahmed, son of Ashfaq; Hamza son of Ghulam Siddique; and Hamza, son of Zafar.

Acting SP Keamari police station, Aftab Nizamani, said rescue teams had fished out bodies of the four boys.

The four students rescued alive were shifted to a hospital for treatment, the SP added.

Three people were reported to have drowned at the Sandspit and Hawkes Bay beaches on late Sunday night. Identified as 26-year-old Rayan and 17-year-old Hammad Fareed, the two friends drowned at Sandspit, while 20-year-old Pinto drowned at the Hawkes Bay beach.

On May 21, three fishermen drowned near Manora Island while nine other were rescued after their boat capsized owing to a strong wind pressure. Head Mohrir of the Docks police station, Abid, said a vessel carrying 12 fishermen overturned just off the shore near Manora. 

The men who lost their lives were residents of Mauripur and identified as 50-year-old Haroon Muhammad, 55-year-old Muhammad Moosa and 73-year-old Sakhi Muhammad.

Four friends drowned at the Hawkes Bay beach, while a fifth was shifted to a hospital in an unconscious condition, on May 14.

Nineteen-year-old Syed Raza drowned, while his brother, 23-year-old Syed Umar, was rescued in an unconscious condition. Others who drowned were identified as 25-year-old Danish, 17-year-old Mashal Minhas and Zubair Majeed.

The men were residents of Buffer Zone, Federal B Area and North Nazimabad. According to in-charge of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) emergency response centre, Muhammad Mairaj, the incident was reported at 7am. He said the rescue operation was started immediately.

The dead bodies were handed over to their distraught families after completion of formal proceedings at the Civil Hospital. While picnickers blamed the deaths on absence of lifeguards, the authorities held the picnickers responsible for carelessly swimming in rough seas amid poor security and administrative arrangements.

A 35-year-old woman who went on a picnic with her family had drowned at Hawkesbay on May 6, Mauripur police and rescue officials said. Shahida Hanif was swimming in the sea when she was swept away by a strong wave. Her body was retrieved and sent to a nearby hospital.