KARACHI: Five boys, aged between eight and 13 years, on Sunday drowned in a huge pond created for the construction of a multi-storey building in Surjani Town, officials and witnesses said.

Two of the victims were brothers.

The tragedy prompted the authorities to detain the under-construction building’s watchman as there were allegations of criminal negligence against the builder.

Police said it would also be investigated whether the builder had got a water connection from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board or had brought water there through tankers for his construction work.

SSP-West Fida Husain Janwari told Dawn that the builder had created a pond where a huge amount of water was stored for construction of the multi-storey building in Sector-7-A.

He said that at around 10.30am five boys of the neighbouring residential area went there for taking a dip in the pond. However, they drowned as the water was far deeper than they had expected it to be and apparently did not know how to swim.

Police say the builder of an under-construction building created the pond for water storage

He said the builder seemed not to have taken adequate safety measures.

The police were investigating the case on the basis of evidence obtained from the area and witnesses.

“If a cognizable offence is made against the builder, he would be taken to task,” the SSP said, adding that a case would be registered on a statement of the families of the victim boys.

He said that a watchman of the building was detained for investigation.

Surjani SHO Jan Mohammed said that the watchman of the building was taken into custody because it was his responsibility to prevent the children from entering the pond.

He said that the under-construction building was named as ‘Child Plaza’ and one Fawad was said to be the builder.

He said that the relatives have told the police that they would lodge the case against the builder after burial of their loved ones.

The police said it appeared that the builder had stopped the construction due to the lockdown measures imposed by the Sindh government because of the spread of the coronavirus in the metropolis.

Additional Police Surgeon Dr Saleem Shaikh of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said that all the five boys were brought dead to the hospital.

The deceased were identified as Masood Ahmed, 13, his brother Fayaz Ahmed, 8, Mohammed Zubair, 12, Arman Tahir, 13, and Furqan Ali, 12.

The victims were the residents of the same area.

MQM demands probe

In a statement issued on Sunday, the coordination committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan expressed its deep sorrow over the drowning incident and demanded that a probe be launched against the builder mafia and the KWSB.

It said that strict legal action would be taken against those involved in the incident.

The MQM-P also demanded that the government pay compensation to the victims’ families.

Meanwhile, senior MQM-P leader Amir Khan visited the area and attended the funeral prayers.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2020