Karachi: Two children died, three were injured after falling into the sewer

Karachi I of Malir district The police Five children fell into a drain on Wednesday, out of which two died while three were rescued, said.

The children who fell into the sewers are aged between four and 11 years.

According to the police, the dead children are 10-year-old Talha Lashari and Char Hasnain, while the injured include seven-year-old Saqib, 11-year-old Parvez and 10-year-old Abbas Lashari.

Sarfraz Jatoi, station house officer (SHO) of Memongoth police station in Malir district, said that on the occasion of 10th of Muharram, the children were playing sabil in the street of their neighborhood, during which the incident took place.

According to Sarfaraz Jatoi: ‘This area is a slum, with no official sewage line. Therefore, with your help, the residents here have made pits 20 to 25 feet deep in the streets, in which sewage water is poured from pipes.’

He said that these pits are covered by the local people, but today there was a rush of children in the street because of Sibel and some children were standing on top of one such sewage pit.

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‘Due to the heavy weight, the roof of the sewage pit collapsed and three children fell in. While saving them, two more children fell in.

During the rescue, two children lost their lives while three injured children were rescued. One of them is still under treatment in the hospital.

Gulbahar Khoso, a close relative of the dead children and a political leader of Memongoth, claimed that this is not the first incident of its kind, such incidents are common in the area.

‘Due to the lack of sewerage lines in our area, deep pits for sewage disposal are extremely dangerous.

However, Karachi Deputy Mayor Salman Murad denied that there was no sewage line in the area and said that it was a well, in which the children died.

Salman Murad said: ‘Where this incident took place is a private society. Sewage line is laid there. The pit in which the children fell today was not used for sewage, rather it was a well dug for water.

‘I myself visited the place and saw it. The children did not die by falling into the sewer or the manhole, but they fell into the well.’

He claimed that a person had personally dug a well without a cover.

‘Children fell down and died because the well had no cover. I have given orders to the police to take action once morest the owner of the well for negligence and not covering the well.’

Incidents of children falling into sewers are common in Karachi. According to the Edhi Foundation, 17 people died in 2023 following falling into the sewers.