Karachi: At least 23 bathers drowned in rough seas off Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi, after defying a ban on swimming during the monsoon season officials said on Thursday.
The government on Thursday shut all the roads leading towards the Sea View beach. The bathers were among thousands who had taken to the beaches to celebrate the Eid Al Fitr holiday, which began on Tuesday and continues until Friday.
Most took to the beach to beat the heat and the because it is the cheapest leisure venue for the poor and low income groups.
Senior police officer Ibadat Nisar said police discovered three bodies washed up at the upscale Clifton beach on Wednesday evening, which prompted a wider search operation that was suspended overnight but resumed on Thursday.
“We started talking to picnickers on the beach and realised that the number of people who drowned was much higher than we thought, people whom we talked to told us about their friends or relatives who had gone missing while swimming,” he said.
“The coastal area is very long and we cannot say how many people might be still missing - let’s hope the number is not very big.”
Witnesses said there were no life-guards present on the beach.
Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui told Gulf News that so far 21 bodies had been recovered with the assistance of a Pakistan Navy chopper and the rescue team.
He added that the administration had already imposed section 144 at the beach which prohibits the gathering of more than four persons at a place.
Two other boys drowned at the Hawks Bay, another beach which is rougher than the Sea View beach but where people largely stay away from there because of monsoon season.
The police had to baton charge those who continued to flout rules and ignore warnings.
Residents crticised the administration for their failure in protecting the picnickers.
Sources said that there have been 70 vacancies for the position of life guards at the city municipal offices but none of them had been filled despite the monsoon season when they are most needed.
Several ambulances were seen on the beach where the relatives of some of the missing were seen anxiously awaiting word of their loved ones.
Faiz Rahman, 32, said he and his younger brother had come to the beach on Wednesday to go for a swim along with two friends — who were now missing.
He said: “As we were swimming in the sea, I noticed the waves getting bigger and more rough, and I got scared and started swimming back.
“I also called my brother and friends to swim back to the shore. My brother returned but my two friends were still swimming as the waves got bigger I lost sight of them.
“I waited for around three hours but they didn’t return.”
But safety standards are very low with the few lifeguards on duty often unable to exert any authority.
Despite the deaths, hundreds of families including women and children continued to arrive at the Clifton Beach on Thursday, as some clashed with police and demanding to be allowed to swim.
“We are still searching for dead bodies and these people can see the dead bodies with their eyes but they are still fighting with us to allow them to swim in the sea,” Fahad Ali, a police official deployed at the beach said.
“These people have came with their family members, there are women and children and you can see kids as young as six and their parents are fighting with us to allow them to swim in the sea,” he said.
“This is the height of stupidity,” he added.
Nisar, the senior police officer, said the government had imposed a ban on swimming in the sea before the start of the monsoon season in June.
