KARACHI: Six picnickers, including three teenage friends, drowned in the sea at Hawkesbay and at Clifton’s Do Darya area on Tuesday in separate incidents, taking the death toll by drowning to about a dozen in just three days.

Police and rescue workers said that the major incident was reported in the Hawkesbay area where teenage schoolboys came for a picnic with the management of their school.

While the picnickers blamed the absence of lifeguards for the loss of lives, rescue workers said they ignored repeated warnings issued by the authorities against swimming or bathing in the rough sea.

“The students were from a private school situated in Orangi Town Sector 11 1/2,” said Mauripur SHO Inspector Mohammad Iqbal. “We were informed by Edhi volunteers about the incident. The principal of the school said four of his students were swimming in the sea and did not return. The situation triggered panic and finally they called for the rescuers’ help.”

Nearly a dozen people have drowned off the city’s beaches in less than a week

After hectic efforts of two hours, he said, bodies of three boys were fished out. They were identified as Mohammad Ejaz, Hamza Siddiqi, and Ali Ahmed — all students of 10th grade and residents of Orangi Town.

“The fourth boy, Hamza Zafar, is still missing and the chances of his survival are very slim,” the area SHO said, adding that the bodies were first moved to the Civil Hospital and then handed over to the families.

The police and rescuers were busy in completing formalities when they were informed about another body near Hut No. 18 in the Hawkesbay area.

“Initially, we thought it would be of the missing boy. But the body turned out to be of a young man,” said an Edhi official. “The victim was identified as 25-year-old Bilal Zahoor. He came for a picnic with his family and drowned while swimming in the sea.”

Later, three young men drowned when a strong current swept them away at Clifton’s Do Darya.

“They were swimming near Do Darya when they were overpowered by the waves, prompting rescue workers to show up at the scene,” said Sahil SHO Inspector Arshad Khan. “The rescuers and lifeguards at the scene managed to recover one of them in an unconscious state. They all were residents of Malir and worked with a private company.”

One of the victims was identified as Abdul Aziz. The man rescued alive by the lifeguards was identified as Kashan Zaid, added the Sahil SHO, while the third victim could not be identified.

Only on Sunday, four persons of a family drowned in the same area. They along with their friends and relatives had gone for a picnic at the beach.

They were swimming in the sea when a strong tide swept them away. All the victims were relatives and lived in Buffer Zone and Orangi Town.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017