KARACHI: The body of a boy who drowned after being swept away while swimming in a major water line in Scheme 33 was recovered on the third day of the search operation, rescue services said.

The boy, Zahid Mohammed Khan, was swept away around 2pm on Friday while swimming in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC)’s line in Scheme-33 near Al-Azhar Garden.

Rescue 1122 and the Edhi service issued separate statements, confirming that the boy’s body has been recovered.

The Edhi statement said the deceased child was 12 years old. The body was shifted to Edhi’s morgue in Sohrab Goth.

Lifeguards from Rescue 1122 and the Edhi Foundation searched until Friday night, but were unable to recover the boy. Subsequently, the operation was paused due to a lack of visibility.

With the help of the district administration, rescuers had resumed their search efforts on Saturday at two separate locations, near Samama Shopping Mall and Continental Bakery in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

Last year, the drowning of a three-year-old boy in an open manhole near Karachi’s NIPA had sparked public outrage. The boy’s body was found after a 15-hour rescue operation.