Pakistan resumes search for 29 missing after boat capsized

Pakistani rescuers on July 19 resumed search for the 29 people who went missing after a passenger boat carrying nearly 100 members of a wedding party capsized in the fast-flowing Indus river.

“Twenty-one women and children were killed in the disaster a day earlier,” a senior government official said. “Divers from Pakistan’s army were expected to join the rescue operation in Sadiqabad, a district in the eastern Punjab province,” government official Saleem Assi said.

He said the bodies of 21 people had so far been recovered and handed over to their relatives. Mr. Assi said at least 65 people, including the bridegroom, were rescued on Monday, but 29 people, including children, were still missing. The missing passengers are feared dead. Their relatives are still waiting hopefully along the riverbank to witness the rescue operation.

Such accidents are common in Pakistan, where rickety wooden boats are often used to transport goods and people on rivers and lakes. Most operate without life jackets.

It must be noted that at least 19 women belonging to a wedding party drowned on July 19 after a boat carrying them capsized in the river Indus near the Punjab and Sindh border area in Pakistan.

Officials said a widespread search was on to find the other members of the wedding party which included 100 people of one clan in Machka, approximately 65KM from Rahim Yar Khan.

Rahim Yar Khan Deputy Commissioner Syed Musa Raza told the media that around 30 rescuers including expert swimmers, five ambulances, and a water rescue van were at the spot taking part in the rescue operation.

Mr. Raza said there are still others missing after the boat capsized due to overloading and high flow of water. “There could be more casualties,” he added. The wedding party of 100 people was returning from Rajanpur in Punjab to Machka when the incident occured. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed grief and condolences over the incident.