KARACHI: A jobless hospital patient, who had undergone three intestine surgeries, hired a rickshaw from his hospital and came to the Native Jetty Bridge from where he jumped into the sea to take his own life on Sunday, rescuers said.

Rescue-1122 official Hassan Khan told Dawn that the man, identified as 27-year-old Shahzeb, was feared to have drowned after he jumped into the sea from the bridge in Keamari.

He was under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for the past 10 days. He had also undergone three surgeries of intestine at the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi a few months ago.

On Sunday morning, he took a rickshaw from the JPMC to arrive at the bridge to take his life by jumping into the sea.

Witnesses said they saw him jumping from the bridge.

Quoting a Shahzeb’s brother, a rescue official said that he had been jobless for the past two months.

Officials said that a water rescue operation was halted after five hours of search because it could not be continued after sunset. The search operation will resume on Monday to find the body.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024