Sehwan Sharif: 19 killed due to suffocation, drowning
HYDERABAD: A total of 19 devotees lost their live during last three days as a result of suffocation and drowning in the canal on the occasion of three days annual urs celebrations of Hazrat Usman...
July 22, 2011
The 18 deceased among those tens of thousand devotees who came from different parts of the country to pay homage to Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar on his 759th annual urs celebrations.
Out of 19 deceased persons six were drowned in the canal while taking bath while others failed to survive due to severe suffocation in the town as a result of scorching heat.
The Edhi Centre Sehwan informed that Shahzad s/o Sharif 20 and Babar Raza s/o Tufial, 19 both residents of Lyari Karachi were drowned to death while taking bath in the canal.
Four more unknown persons also lost their live when they were drowned in the canal.
The Edhi divers fished out their bodies and shifted to Taluka Hospital Sehwan where the bodies of Shahzad and Babar were handed over to their relatives.
The bodies of remaining four persons were kept in the mortuary of the hospital as their identification could not be ascertained yet.
Besides drowning of six persons, the suffocation in the area also claimed the live of 12 more persons including two women. Out of 12 persons, eight have been identified as Nazia w/o Gulzar 45 resident of Multan, Bashir Ahmed 40 r/o Lahore, Mumtaz Hussain 55 r/o Khanewal, Falak Sher 50 r/o Khanewal, Manzooran 50 r/o Lodheran, Tariq 30 r/o Lahore, Sajjad 50 r/o Lahore and Shahid 30 r/o Rahim Yar Khan.
The bodies of all identified deceased persons were handed over to their relatives while the other four deceased persons whose identification could not be ascertained were laid to rest by Edhi volunteers at Sehwan town.
It may be mentioned here that Commissioner Hyderabad Division, Ahmed Bux Narejo who reviewed the urs arrangements yesterday in a meeting had expressed his apprehensions over the drowning cases at the canals of the town during the annual urs celebrations and directed the revenue officers for imposing section 144 Cr.P.C prohibiting swimming and taking necessary precautionary measures so that precious lives of the people could be saved.
But no effort is being witnessed from the administration concerned to stop the devotees from swimming or taking bath in the canals.
