At least 23 bodies of ill-fated picnickers drowned in Clifton Beach in the Sea View area on the second day of Eid-ul-Fitr, were recovered after hours long rescue operation on Thursday. According to police and rescue sources, the tragic incident occurred when a large number of people were taking bath in the sea at two different beaches of the city - Sea View and Hawks Bay. According to sources, around 23 persons, mostly youths, drowned into the sea reportedly due to its rough conditions in the current monsoon season.
Following the gory incident, rescuers belonging to Navy and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation were rushed to the scene of tragedy to undertake the rescue operations. Navy's helicopters also took part in the rescue operation. Twelve bodies were recovered from Clifton beach till Wednesday night while 11 bodies were recovered on Thursday. The bodies were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal examinations.
Bodies of the victims recovered from Clifton beach on Thursday were identified as Khizar, 17, Iqrar, 19, Mazhar, 12, Israr, 17, son of Arshad, Umar s/o Irafan, Sanaullah,18, Najeebullah, 23, and Ajmal, s/o Abdul Azhar. Meanwhile, two more bodies which were recovered from Hawks Bay could not be identified till filing of this report. Bodies of some 15 victims were handed over to their relatives after completion of their medico-legal formalities at JPMC.
"Helicopters of Navy are also taking part in the rescue operation as 19 bodies have been recovered from the sea, while the search for four more people was continuing," Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui told newsmen on Thursday morning. However, bodies of remaining four people were also recovered later.
Though the Sindh government under Section 144 has imposed a ban on swimming in the city's beaches due to the sea's rough conditions in the current of monsoon season, the drowning of 23 people posed a question mark over the performance of police. A relative of a victim alleged that the police department has failed in protecting the lives of the people, saying that no police official was present on beach prior to occurrence of this tragedy.
Meanwhile, the cases of drowning have been registered at Boat Basin police station. Meanwhile, an official of Boat Basin police station told this correspondent that cops mounted on horses have been patrolling Clifton beach while a picket has been set up at Mauripur Road to stop picnickers from going towards Hawksbay, French Beach, Sandspit and other beaches.
Sources said that the relatives of the picnickers who were searching for their near and dear ones, staged protest demonstrations and burnt tyres when policemen stopped them from going towards Clifton beach. The angry protesters also chanted slogans against the police for not taking prompt measures for rescuing the victims. Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have also expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the tragic incident.
In their separate messages, the president and the prime minister condoled with the families of the victims and prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and give courage to bereaved families to bear the irreparable losses.