Karachi:
Two minor boys drowned on Monday while bathing in a grop filled with rainwater outside a building under construction in Karachi’s Gulistan-E-Jauhar area. A third child managed to escape unharmed.
The deceased was identified as 10-year-old Mureed Hussain, son of Abdul Muneer, and 11-year-old Haris, son of Abdul Ghaffar, both residents of Bhittaiabad. The deceased was moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) by Edhi ambulance for Medico-Legal Formality and later handed over to their families.
The boys played in accumulated rainwater, which was gathered in a pit that was dug up a while ago by workers aimed at laying the basis for the place. The incident took place near Block 9, Magsi Chowk, within the limits of Malir Cantonment Police Station.
Malir Cantonment Sho Agha Abdul Rasheed said the three children were bathing in the grop when the incident took place. Mures brother, Ghulam Hussain, managed to escape unkind.
Read: Apartment building sinks in jauhar
This is not the first time this year that a citizen has lost their lives in an excavation grop. In May, alleged negligence from the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) claimed the life of a teenage boy on Dhoke Kala Khan Service Road, where a 17-foot-deep-deep pit dug for a water tank had been left for over six months.
The victim, identified as 17-year-old Rehan Masih, slipped and fell into the pit while playing near a cricket lane next to the place.
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The ditch, dug for a water tank serving union council 21, 22, 23 and 24, remains incomplete due to a reported lack of funds. According to the locals, the pit measures about 17-19 feet in depth, 30 feet in length and four meters in width. It was accumulated with dirty rainwater and had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
On the day of the event, Masih marked during a game of cricket as he accidentally slipped into the grop. Because of its depth he did not survive. The locals picked up the body with difficulties and sent it to post-mortem to the district headquarters of teaching hospital. The deceased was handed over to the family after the medico-legal formalities of last rituals.
Residents reported frequent minor incidents on the spot and said they had raised concerns before. The deadly accident triggered widespread indignation, where the local staging protests against WASA and demanded immediate action.
