DADU, July 8: Five people who had come to attend the Urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar died in different incidents in Sehwan on Sunday.

One of them drowned in Aral Wah. Divers of Navy and local fishermen found the body of a 35-years-old man in the saline water drain.

Police found the body of another unidentified man in Shahi Bazaar. DSP Sehwan Hakim Ali said that some devotees had informed police that he had had been affected by heatstroke. The body has been handed over to the Edhi centre.

Police also found the bodies of Aijaz Ahmed, 28, of Lahore and Noor Mohammad, 45, of Jhang near the boys’ degree college of Sehwan. Edhi volunteer Nisar Ahmed Channa said Aijaz and Siraj had died of heart attack.

A resident of Khairpur Nathan Shah, Rafique Ahmed, fell from the roof of a bus and was run over by another bus near the shrine.

Airport reopened

The Civil Aviation Authority reopened Sehwan Airport on Sunday for flights carrying important people to the three-day 760th Urs of Sufi saint Hazrat Usman Marwandi, popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.

The Urs is scheduled to begin on Monday.

CAA Director-General Nadeem Ahmed Yousufzai visited the airport on Sunday.

The airport is located near Bubak 15km from Sehwan.

Airport manager Abdul Haleem Mahesar told Dawn that the airport had been flooded by breaches in the embankments of Manchhar Lake during 2010 rains and water again entered its premises during last year’s downpour.

However, no schedule for flights for devotees has been announced by any airline so far.

Secretary of Mela committee Syed Attaullah Shah said he had met the CAA DG and requested him to arrange flights for devotees from Karachi and other cities.