RAHIM YAR KHAN: Three labourers allegedly died from suffocation in a choked sewerage line they had entered to clean in Feroza Town of Liaqatpur tehsil, some 66kms from here, on Tuesday.

Sources said Liaqatpur Municipal Committee officials “privately” hired three labourers – Imran, Munir Ahmed and Momin – residents of Mauza Hayyat Laar of Khanpur tehsil, to clean a sewerage line.

They said the three labourers entered the choked sewerage without any safety gear and were apparently suffocated to death after inhaling poisonous gases accumulated there.

Their bodies were later retrieved from the sewerage and handed over to their families.

Liaqatpur Assistant Commissioner Shakaib Sarwar did not respond to the phone calls of this scribe for his version.

Official sources said Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Ahmed Bhatti has formed a committee to probe into the incident and file a report within 24 hours, so that those responsible for the three labourers’ death could be punished under the law.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023