From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Two children drowned, while a search operation for five people was underway on Thursday afternoon after a car was swept away by a flash flood into Karachi’s Malir River Wednesday night. According to a statement issued by the Memon Goth police, a Toyota Corolla, having registration number BGV-765 and carrying seven people including the driver, was swept away in the river at 8:30pm Wednesday.
“Today, the car has been pulled out of the nadi (river) while the search for missing persons is underway,” the statement said, adding that the search operation was being jointly carried out by police and rescue teams.
The spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation told reporters that the body of Mohammed Moosa, 10, and Hamna, 7, had been recovered.
Saad Edhi, the foundation’s senior official, said that rescue teams were facing difficulties in tracing the drowned persons because of the water flow. Meanwhile, Memon Goth Station House Officer Ateeq Rehman said that the family was visiting Karachi from Hyderabad to attend a wedding ceremony. “They were returning to Hyderabad when they reportedly drowned,” he told media.
Separately, Amjad Jan Brohi, a resident of nearby Dumloti-6, said the car was found floating in the Malir River in the Nabi Bux Bikak area.
“But the family could not be located,” he told media, adding that the missing persons’ relatives had also joined rescue efforts.
Quoting their relatives, he said a family of six, including a couple and their four children, and a driver were travelling in the car. They have been identified as Mohammed Zeeshan Ansari, Rabia, Hamna, Ebad, Mohammed Moosa, and Ayan and their driver, Abdul Rehman.
The link road’s bridge that is usually taken by vehicles travelling on this route has been closed due to its dilapidated condition, he said, adding that a causeway had been built for commuters as an alternative.
However, the causeway was flooded due to heavy rain on Wednesday and hence, the car was swept away.
Due to heavy rains on Wednesday evening, the causeway was overflowing when the heavy flow of water swept away the car along with the family, said Brohi.
While the search for the missing people was underway, Sindh Social Welfare Minister Sajid Jokhio and Malir Deputy Commissioner Irfan Salam also visited the site to oversee the operation.
Talking to reporters, he revealed that another man had drowned in the river Wednesday while crossing it.
Jokhio asked the administration to remain alert and ordered that the people living on the banks of the river be immediately moved to safer locations.
