Five people drowned as a boat capsized in the Chenab River in the Jalalpur Pirwala area of Punjab’s Multan district on Saturday amid a flood evacuation, according to officials.

Multan Deputy Commissioner (DC) Wasim Hamid Sindhu and City Police Officer (CPO) Sadiq Ali Dogar later reached the site for an inspection and were briefed by officials present there.

“The causes of the boat accident are being carefully examined. Initially, five deaths, including children on board the boat, have been confirmed,” DC Sindhu was quoted as saying in a statement. A statement from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also put the toll at five.

He ordered the rescue authorities to immediately intensify the search operation. “Rescue operations are being carried out to search for more people on board the boat,” Sindhu said.

Meanwhile, CPO Dogar said police teams were providing full support to Rescue 1122 and the initial reasons for the boat accident included the darkness and flooded routes.

The initial report from Rescue 1122 explained that the boat had hit a tree and capsized due to the strong water flow, along with the women and children on board not able to maintain their balance, while evacuating people from floodwaters in Jalalpur Pirwala.

It added that most of the women and children were aboard the boat and the depth of the water was 15 to 20 feet.

The report said personnel launched search and rescue operations and four bodies were retrieved, while the rest of the people were recovered. “Line searching and boat searching are being conducted at different places to search for one child,” it said.

A statement from the department said Rescue 1122 Secretary Dr Rizwan Naseer expressed grief over the deaths and ordered the divisional emergency officer to immediately share the incident report.

Multan Commissioner Aamir Karim Khan also expressed grief over the deaths and extended his condolences to the families of the deceased.

Punjab PDMA Director General Irfan Kathia directed that the best medical assistance be provided to the injured.

“Evacuation of victims should be made safe in a flood situation. There should be no overloading in private boats or rescue boats,” he ordered.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz took notice of the incident and extended her condolences to the families of the victims.

Rescue 1122 said that it had rescued more than 9,000 people in flood operations from Multan alone, while over 350,000 people and above 300,000 animals had been evacuated in advance.