Two children drown in under-construction underpass in Karachi

KARACHI: Two children drowned on Thursday in rainwater accumulated in an under-construction underpass near Punjab Chowrangi area of Karachi, ARY News reported.

The children were reportedly playing in the rainwater accumulated in the underpass after rains lashed several part of the city yesterday when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Divers from the Edhi and Chippa Foundation reached to search for the bodies in the deep ditch. Rescue officials said that the depth of the ditch affected the rescue operation.

The bodies of both children were retrieved after over an hour. They were identified as Aftab and Moin aged between eight and ten, and were the residents of the P&T Colony near Gizri.

Police said that Aftab was third grade student. The bodies of both children were sent to Jinnah Hospital for post-mortem and other legal procedures. The aggrieved families reached the hospital and appeared inconsolable due to the tragic incident.

It may be mentioned that no one from the construction company or local administration was present at the site of the flooded underpass, neither were any diversions or roadblocks made due to the accumulated rainwater.

The underpass at the busy junction is being constructed to remove bottlenecks in the movement of heavy traffic particularly at rush hours. It is expected to be completed in September 2017 at the cost of Rs600 million.