SUKKUR: Six members of Shar clan drowned and five managed to swim back to safety when their boat capsized in Nara Canal in Khairpur district on Monday.

Sources in the area told this reporter that 11 men, residents of Drabo Shar village, had taken the boat ride to attend a marriage ceremony in nearby Jamal-ud-Din village across the river when they met the accident.

The victims were identified as Bakht Ali Shar, Bakhsh Ali Shar, Raj Ali Shar, Raja Khan Shar, Mango Shar and Khaliq Ali Shar. The names of the five survivors could not be ascertained immediately.

A large number of people from the nearby villages rushed to the canal dyke to rescue the boat riders and informed the area police about the ill-fated incident.

Meanwhile, caretaker Sindh Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar took notice of the incident after its news was aired on TV channels, and directed the irrigation department to undertake rescue work immediately.

No sooner did he issue the directives than rescue teams started reaching the scene of the tragedy. The teams had not yet succeeded to take out the bodies from the canal as they had started the rescue work belatedly, said villagers witnessing the operation.

The Khairpur police said that they had cordoned off the area so that the teams could carry out their work without any hindrance. Pakistan Navy could also be approached to aid in finding the bodies, they said.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori also took notice of the incident and directed local authorities to use all available resources to search out the bodies.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2023