Four people drowned at Karachi’s Hawkesbay beach on Sunday as the authorities struggled to implement the ban imposed on swimming by the Karachi commissioner in view of ongoing torrential rains and high tides in the sea.
A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation said the victims were residents of Liaquatabad, adding that two bodies have been recovered while two others remain missing. Keamari Deputy Commissioner Mukhtiar Abro identified the quartet as Nihal, 24, Ubaid, 18, Fahad, 17, and Shahrukh, 24.
Senior medico-legal officer Dr Summaiya Syed said Nihal and Ubaid’s bodies were brought to Civil Hospital Karachi but their relatives took them away without medico-legal formalities.
The DC said the police had established three check posts at Sandspit, Manora and Hawkesbay where 12 police mobiles were also placed to keep people from bathing in the sea. He said the police had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code but people continued to approach the sea from dirt roads and nearby goths.
The officer admitted that it was not easy to cover the lengthy coastline.
Meanwhile, Keamari Senior Superintendent of Police Fida Husain Janwari said the police had arrested seven people over charges of violating the swimming ban and cases were registered against them.
