Thatta boat tragedy death toll soars to 23

THATTA: The death toll in Thatta boat capsize incident climbed to 23 as the divers retrieved the dead body of a six-year girl from the sea, citing rescue sources ARY News reported.

The ill-fated boat capsized on Thursday in the sea off the at Buhara near Mirpur Sakro.

The boat, carrying more than sixty people in total, was ferrying passengers to visit a popular Sufi shrine when it overturned owing to heavy winds in Sindh’s coastal belt along Thatta district.

As many as 18 bodies were recovered during the rescue operations on Thursday while the divers retrieved four more bodies from the sea during the search on Friday.

Most of the drowned victims belonged to various areas of Karachi. As many as 10 bodies were brought to old city area of Lyari and five others in Memon Goth of the city.

The deceased included five women and four children, while at least twenty others were pulled from the sea alive.

The bodies were shifted to a hospital in Mirpur Sakro while the survivors with drowning trauma were discharged after provided first aid.

All the ferry passengers were travelling to attend a festival at a shrine when their boat capsized, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Thatta Haseeb Afzal said, adding, the boat had more passengers than its loading capacity.

DIG Hyderabad said that the incident occurred due to over loading. He said three accused have been arrested, while the boat owner was at large.