KARACHI: At least 12 people have died by drowning at theHawks Bay beach in Karachi, rescue sources said Saturday afternoon.
According to rescue sources, at least twelve picnickers drowned at the beach prompting the onlookers to contact rescue services.
Sikandar, In-charge of the Emergency Center at Hawks Bay, said three people have been rescued alive. He said divers and coast guards are carrying out search and rescue operation to find the missing men.
“Despite repeated warnings by life guards and divers of low tide, around a dozen people went under the water while swimming and did not resurface,” Sikandar said.
Saad Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said that at least four rescue divers from his organisation are busy searching bodies of drowning victims. Rescue services were initially able to recover nine bodies while three other bodies were recovered later in the evening. Three of the dead bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital.
It is pertinent to note here that in May, the provincial government imposed a ban on swimming on Karachi’s beaches for six months.
The government had notified that under Section 144 of the CrPC, a ban has been imposed on wading through, swimming and diving in the sea at the beaches ofKarachi for the next six months.
Last month, at least three Saudi nationals died by drowning at the same beach. The three dead included son of Saudi vice-consul general.
Karachi witnesses a significant number of drowning incidents in the summer season, when picnickers swarm at the beaches to beat the soaring temperatures in the city. NNI