At least 17 children of a religious seminary were killed after their boat capsized in the Tanda dam in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said. Besides, as many as 13 students were injured and had been taken to hospital, said Furqan Khan, the deputy commissioner of Kohat district in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the accident took place, reports AFP news agency.
Officials said the students, aged between seven and 14 years, of Madrassa Mirbash Khel were on an excursion trip when their boat capsized in the Tanda Dam lake in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, reports PTI news agency. The rescue workers have recovered 17 bodies, they added.
Khan said the rescue operation is still on to locate the missing students but did not provide further details on how many were still missing.
A local police officer, Mir Rauf, said that all of the dead have been recovered from Tanda Dam lake, while 13 have been injured in the accident.
According to local reports, the boat was carrying between 25 and 30 students on a daytrip from a local madrassa when it overturned.
Mass drownings are common in Pakistan when aged and overloaded vessels lose their stability and pitch passengers into the water.
Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan expressed grief over the incident and directed the district administration and rescue organisations to start a rescue operation on an emergency basis.
“All available resources should be utilised for the safe recovery of the persons who drowned in the incident,” he said in a statement.
This is not the first time that mass drownings were reported in Pakistan. The often-cited problems for such are overloaded vessels that lose stability.
In July, 18 women drowned when an overcrowded boat carrying a wedding party across the Indus river in Rahim Yar Khan had capsized.
(With inputs from agencies)
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