March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

LARKANA, March 11: A ring-shaped stone belonging to pre-historic age broke into pieces after falling on the flour when it was being moved to the first floor of Moenjodaro museum on Tuesday.

The museum’s curator Jawed A. Khan confirmed to Dawn that the stone had broken after it fell from the pedestal. He blamed it on the staff, who were shifting it to the first floor, and said it was a restored ring-shaped stone and would be repaired soon. Sources said that there were only three attendants at the museum. One issued tickets to visitors, the other rechecked them at the gate while only one was supposed to be present inside the museum to keep watch over precious artifacts kept in showcases.

The museum staff has earlier shifted three such stones to the building’s first floor and several others still lie at the ground floor without any protection.

Archaeologists believe the stones either represented some sacred religious deities or were used as units of time scale.

DROWNS: One Kamori, 26, drowned in the River Indus near Moor Chandio village in the jurisdiction of Naudero police station on Tuesday while trying to save her five-year-old daughter Shahzadi.

The mother gave up her life after saving the daughter. The deceased’s body was later taken out of the river.