PAKISTAN: 51 children died when their overloaded boat capsized in northwest Pakistan, Police said Tuesday after divers spent three days dragging bodies from freezing waters.
The boys aged between seven and 14 were all students of a madrassa and had been taken for a day trip to the scenic Tanda Dam lake on Sunday.
“The water of the dam was freezing due to cold weather that impeded the rescue mission. But today the divers were able to dive deep to recover the remaining bodies,” said Khateer Ahmad, a senior official with Rescue 1122.
The bodies of a teacher and one skipper were also pulled from the water, he added, bringing the death toll to 51.
Tanda Dam lake is about five kilometres (3 miles) away from the madrassa an Islamic school that offers free religious education in Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Police spokesperson Fazal Naeem issued the new death toll on Tuesday after the end of the rescue mission. It was confirmed by the military’s media wing. “The boat was overloaded; its capacity was around 20 to 25 persons,” Naeem told Agencies.
He added that five people were rescued including four students and one teacher.
Pakistan’s army shared images showing divers traversing the lake in rubber dinghies, entering the green waters to pull out the bodies of children.
“I got stuck under the boat,” 11-year-old survivor Muhammad Mustafa told Agencies from his hospital bed on Sunday. “My shawl and sweater weighed me down, so I took them off.” “The water was extremely cold and my body went numb. I thought I was going to pass out when a man on an inflatable tube saved me.” On the same day, at least 41 people were confirmed dead after their bus crashed into a ravine in southwestern Balochistan Province. – ARAB NEWS
