KARACHI: A minor boy died after falling into an open manhole near his home in Shah Latif Town, officials said on Thursday.

They said that four-year-old Mohsin Lashari had left his home in Sector-22-B of Shah Latif Town on Wednesday evening to purchase something. When he did not come back, the family launched a search and subsequently found him dead in an open gutter.

Area residents managed to retrieve the body from the manhole and took it to a hospital.

Residents told the media that several manholes in their area were without any cover. They urged the district administration and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) to cover the manholes to avoid such incidents in future.

In recent months, many children as well as grownups had died after falling into open drains in the city.

Last year, KWSC Chief Executive Officer Syed Salahuddin had told Dawn that over 20,000 manholes were without covers across the city.

He said that most of the manholes were either broken due to poor quality of the material or stolen by drug addicts to retrieve steel for buying drugs.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024