Five die in Karachi rain; PM directs NDMA, PDMA to pace up relief activities
A 10-year-old child drowned, while a search operation for six 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 yesterday.
“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 media that so far the body of Mohammed Moosa, 10, 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 said.
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 said, 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.
