The body of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night was recovered on Monday, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported.
The development was confirmed by both Rescue 1122 and Edhi, with the latter adding that the body was being taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Images shared on social media last night had showed a large number of citizens gathered in the area as rescue work was underway. Other videos also showed the child’s distraught mother calling on someone to save her child.
Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the service’s central command received information about the incident at 10pm on Sunday night.
He said the boy was with his parents, who were shopping at a private departmental store near Nipa. He said the boy fell into the manhole after the family left the store.
He said that Rescue 1122 did not usually initiate search operations at night due to a lack of visibility. But, since a “highly charged” crowd had gathered and the parents were grief-stricken, officials initiated the search operation, he said.
However, rescue workers have been unable to trace the boy.
The spokesperson said that the search and rescue operation continued into the night for a considerable time. He said that the rescue operation had been halted for now, but officials had excavated five areas with the help of heavy machinery to search for the missing boy.
He said that the Rescue 1122 team had asked the authorities concerned to provide the blueprint for the underground drainage system. According to Khan, the team was waiting for information on the entry and exit flow of the underground water so that rescue work could be conducted at the exact location.
Karachi mayor cautions against politicising incident
Speaking to the media in Karachi, Mayor Murtaza Wahab said he would initiate an inquiry into the incident but cautioned against politicising it.
“Unfortunately, when this kind of thing happens, we immediately go toward blame and rhetoric,” he said. “If there is a human tragedy, then is it necessary to bring politics into it?”
He said that he would conduct an inquiry as to how long the manhole had been left open in the middle of the city, near a large department store which was visited by thousands daily.
“How it was open or was it left open at that time … this will be checked,” he said.
