THATTA: In an unprecedented tragedy, seven children belonging to the Marri tribe drowned in the River Indus here on Friday afternoon.

Residents of the village Daim Marri located at a walking distance from the Indus along the National Highway near Jherruck town told this reporter that a number of families of the tribe had come to the village to attend a marriage ceremony.

Taking the benefit of parents’ involvement in the marriage ceremony, more than 12 children sneaked away, reached the nearby riverbank and started playing in the water to beat the sweltering heat.

Within moments two to three children got trapped in a ditch which sucked them down towards deep waters followed by the others.

The remaining children playing on the bank raised a hue and cry and ran towards the village to call the parents, but in the meanwhile seven unfortunate youngsters, four boys and three girls, drowned in the river. Local divers retrieved all the bodies.

The name of one child not be ascertained immediately while others were identified as nine-year-old Amir, six-year-old Azam, five-year-old Bashir and Rafique, seven-year-old Koonjh and four-year-old Benazir. They were taken to Jherruck Basic Health Centre.

Official sources told Dawn that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had taken notice of the incident and asked the Hyderabad division commissioner to send a report immediately.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020