Punjab Minister for Irrigation and Agriculture, Malik Ahmed Ali, visited Head Punjnad, District Muzaffargarh, and reviewed the ongoing operation for recovering the dead bodies of six persons who had drowned when their boat capsized, along with the bodies of three other persons who had drowned on Eid day while bathing in the river.
In presence of the Provincial Minister, the rescue team of 1122, retrieved the dead body of 18 years old Muhammad Azam s/o Mulazam Hussain of Tehsil Jatoi, who was recognised by his father with the help of an amulet and mobile phone found in his pocket. Expressing his heartfelt condolences, the Provincial Minister said that he equally shares the grief of the father of the deceased, says a spokesman of the Agriculture Department here on Friday.
Talking on the occasion, Assistant Commissioner Alipur Zafar Ullah informed that, due to traffic jam, the ill-fated persons tried to cross the river on a boat, and despite the fact that the boat was small, the boatman took on board 11 persons, along with three motorcycles, but when the boat reached the middle of river it capsized, as a result of which five persons were drowned, while six were saved.
The drowned persons included Mujahid Ali, Faisal Abbas, Syed Muzammal Shah, Muhammad Azam and Khyzer Abbas. The dead bodies of four persons have been recovered while the dead body of one person Khizar Abbas is still to be found. The survivors include Abdul Qayyum, Muhammad Iqbal, Shamim Bibi, Kamran Arshad, Zeshan Arshad and Muhammad Nadeem. The Assistant Commissioner further informed that meanwhile three persons, bathing in the river, were drowned which included Haq Nawaz, Muhammad Arshad and Mureed Hussain and their dead bodies were recovered from the river and handed over to their heirs. He further informed that that rescue teams of Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh and Multan are participating in the operation with 22 divers and five boats.
Later, Provincial Minister Malik Ahmed Ali attended the Nimaz-e- Janaza of Muhammad Azam and offered his heartfelt condolences with the bereaved family. The Minister directed the administration to take practical steps to curb such incidents, while strict action should be taken against the irresponsible elements. The Minister also issued show cause notices to XEN Punjnad and SDO for unsatisfactory arrangements and irresponsible attitude, while he appreciated the performance of the police, Rescue 1122 and civil administration. Chief Engineer Irrigation, Zafar Iqbal, SE Irrigation, Ehsan Ahmed, XEN Irrigation, Chaudhry Akram, EDO Agriculture Mian Abid Hussain, Member Provincial Assembly of Pakistan Muslim League-N Chaudhry Muhammad Yamin were also present on the occasion.
