At least 10 kids dead as tourist boat capsizes in Tanda Dam lake
Pakistan
Seven kids dead as tourist boat capsizes in Tanda Dam
KOHAT (Dunya News) – At least seven children were killed after a boat carrying tourists capsized in Tanda Dam lake in Kohat on Sunday, local administration and rescuers said.
Rescuers said at least 20 people including children were on the boat at the time of the incident.
The Kohar deputy commissioner said the vicitms came to the dam for recreation. He said divers managed to pull out 10 bodies and resuced eight others alive from the water. The survivors are under treatment at the district heqdaurters hospital Kohat.
A special team of divers from Peshawar reached the spot and took part in search and rescue operation.
Meanwhile, a police official told AFP that 10 children were killed in the incident.
Accoridng to AFP, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local police official Mir Rauf told AFP all of the dead so far recovered from the lake were between the ages of seven and 14.
He said 11 more children had been rescued, with six in critical condition. However, up to nine more remain missing from the madrassa class which was day tripping at the scenic location.
"A rescue operation is underway," Rauf told AFP.
Ramshackle highways, lax safety measures and reckless driving contribute to Pakistan s dire road safety record.
Passenger buses are frequently crammed to capacity and seatbelts are not commonly worn, meaning high death tolls from single vehicle accidents are common.
In November, 20 people, including 11 children, were killed when a minibus crashed into a deep and water-logged ditch in southern Pakistan.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, more than 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan s roads in 2018.
Mass drownings are also common in Pakistan, when aged and overloaded vessels lose their stability and pitch passengers into the water.
Meanwhile, the caretaker Punjab chief minister expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and also prayed for the recovery of injured.
