Bodies of two kids found after car carrying family swept away by flash flood

The bodies of two children were recovered on Thursday some hours after a flash flood had swept away a car on Link Road into the Malir River on Wednesday.

The vehicle was also found, however, the search for other persons in the vehicle — the parents and their other two children as well as the driver — is under way. The ill-fated family comprising the couple and their four children, and the driver were returning to Hyderabad after attending a wedding ceremony in Karachi’s Quaidabad area when the car submerged in a flash flood while trying to pass Link Road.

The Pakistan Navy, Edhi Foundation volunteers, local police and personnel from the Sindh police’s Special Security Unit have been participating in the search operation. Some people in the area had informed the police about the tragic incident after they saw the car submerging in water.

“As soon as the police received the information, the search and rescue operation started,” District Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur told The News. He added that the search operation had to be halted on Thursday night due to darkness and it would resume today (Friday) morning.

The car was found about one-and-a-half kilometres away from the drowning point and hours after that the bodies of two children were also recovered from different spots. They were identified as 10-year-old Moosa and his younger sister Amna.

According to the government, nobody was found inside the car when it was found. People of the area claimed that they had tried to stop the people in the car from going towards Link Road but they did not stop and continued to drive, resulting in the tragedy.

The driver’s brother, Hafiz Abdul Hai, said that his brother was returning to Hyderabad when a family asked him to take them to Hyderabad. He added that his brother could not be contacted since 6pm on Wednesday.

Danish, the nephew of the head of the family that drowned in the Malir River, claimed that his uncle had asked the driver not to use Link Road. Edhi Foundation head Saad Edhi said the car had to be pulled out from water with the help of heavy machinery.

Meanwhile, a teenage boy drowned in the Gujjar Nullah within the limits of the Supermarket police station. The body was retrieved and transported to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where it was identified to be that of 14 year-old Sahib, son of Zar Shah.

In a similar incident, a woman drowned and two girls were rescued when they were about to drown in the Bolhari River in Khan Gawandar Goth in Gadap Town. The deceased woman was identified as Anum, wife of Mobin.

Electrocution deaths

Two minors among three people were electrocuted to death in parts of the city on Thursday. A seven-year-old girl, Roshni, daughter of Sunny, died after suffering electric shocks at a house in Zia Colony within the limits of the Korangi Industrial Area police station.

Separately, a teenage boy, Noor Zaman, son of Hazrat Gul, was electrocuted to death in Naya Nazimabad. In another incident, a 35-year-old labourer, Murad, son of Ali, was electrocuted to death while working at an under-construction building in Defence View within the limits of the Baloch Colony police station. The body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.