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CatastrophePakistan

Pakistan: 20 dead after boat capsizes in river

July 18, 2022

Rescue teams in Punjab province have recovered at least 20 bodies, with more people believed to be missing. The vessel had been ferrying wedding guests across the Indus River when it overturned.

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Rescuers and locals pictured helping survivors
The boat had been carrying well over 100 wedding guests when it capsized in the central Pakistani river in SadiqabadImage: Punjab Government/REUTERS

Emergency services in Pakistan's Punjab province on Monday recovered the bodies of at least 20 wedding guests from a river in Pakistan's Punjab province after a ferry capsized.

Local officials say the vessel was heavily loaded at the time of the incident and had been transporting more than a 100 wedding guests.

Locals carry a dead body covered in a white sheet
Emergency services managed to recover the bodies of at least 20 victims, but more are believed to be missingImage: Punjab Government/REUTERS

What we know so far

According to a government statement, the ferry was transporting guests — mostly women and children — from one family across the Indus River in a marriage procession between the villages of Machka and Kharor in the district of Sadiqabad.

The vessel capsized at some point during the journey. Some people managed to swim ashore, while others were rescued by local fishermen, according to a local government official. Divers managed to rescue nearly 90 people.

"We have retrieved 20 bodies so far," and most of them were women, local government official Aslam Tasleem told local television station, Geo News TV.

"We're not sure how many people exactly were on the boat. We're getting the estimates just on the basis of the family members' accounts," he said.

Police officer Mohammad Hammad told AFP news agency that "most of the drowned appear to be women" because "most of the men know how to swim."

Women in Pakistan don't have the same level of access when it comes to learning how to swim as men do, largely as a result of the country's conservative moral codes.

kb/nm (AFP, Reuters)