10 drown as boat capsizes in Keenjhar Lake

KARACHI: At least 10 picnickers, including women, minors and teen-aged girls, drowned while three others were rescued on Monday after a boat they were on board capsized in Keenjhar Lake near Thatta. The incident took place when the boat, carrying 13 members of a Karachi based family, capsized near the grave of Noori.

Rescue workers reached the scene and started rescue operation. The Pakistan Navyteams were also called to help the civil administration for search of the survivors. The rescuers were able to pull out 10 bodies from the deep water of the Keenjhar Lake.

Senior government officials, including the Thatta Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Usman Tanveer and SSP Thatta, after receiving information reached the spot to monitor the rescue operation. “Ten people lost their lives and three others were rescued by rescue teams,” confirmed the deputy commissioner. The casualties were transported to the Civil Hospital, Thatta, for autopsies.

According to police and rescuers, the tragic incident took place when the affected persons belonging to the Mehmoodabad locality of Karachi were on a visit to Keenjhar Lake when the boat lost its balance and capsized. The search and rescue operation has been concluded as the teams have recovered all bodies from the deep water after the sorrowful incident. The police officials have arrested sailor Abdul Jabbar, on charges of overloading the boat.

The 10 bodies were later brought to a morgue in Korangi where a large number of family members, neighbours, relatives and friends of the drowning victims also gathered and staged a protest against the incident. A minor violent incident was also reported when some people from the crowd attempted to film the bodies at the morgue.

“A total of 28 people from a family went to the lake on picnic, of which 13 women were on one boat which capsized,” say the relatives. “We were told that the boat capsized due to overloading. If this is so, where were the authorities concerned and who allowed them to overload?”

The deceased women included 15-year-old Saima, daughter of Asif, Uzma, 35, Amir, Rubina, 40, wife of Usman Ghani, her three daughters, Nimra, 10, Eeman, 11, and Urooj, 19, 16-year-old Shanza, daughter of Yousuf and her twin sister, namely Alisha, their elder sister, Sadia, 21, and their mother, Sabiha, 40.

Drowning incidents are common at the beaches in Karachi and its surroundings. Earlier on Sunday, two siblings drowned while on a picnic at the Hawkesbay beach while a young boy also drowned while bathing at the Sandspit beach on Sunday. Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has expressed grief over the incident and has taken serious notice in this regard.