Sailors asked not to bring rickety boats to Tarbela Lake

HARIPUR: The district administration has asked the sailors not to bring rickety boats to the Tarbela Lake. “We will not allow the boats that are in a poor condition to carry passengers and goods,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner Baidullah Shah.He was talking to reporters during his visit to rescue camp in Brug village where dozens of family members of the missing boat passengers have stayed put hoping that the rescue workers would fish out bodies of their near and dear ones.The official was accompanied by District Disaster Management Officer Dr Mujtaba Arafat Bharwana, officials of civil society organizations, media persons and volunteers. The ADC met the heirs and condoled with them over the tragic incident. He assured them of support and provided them four tents, edibles, medicines and a solar panel on behalf of district administration.On this occasion, the ADC said that district administration had started checking the fitness of boats. He said that on the directives of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan the administration would bound each boatman to properly maintain the boat to carry passengers and goods or else strict action would be taken against them.Talking to the family members of missing passengers, the official said the district administration has decided to approach the Pakistan Navy to help to pull out the sunken boat. The ADC said the divers of Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122 were making efforts to fishing out the bodies. However, he assured the family members that the administration would continue its efforts to trace the missing passengers.Meanwhile, the district administration has for the first time shared the names of victims with media. According to the official list, there were a total of 38 passengers including three boatmen, six women and eight children. Most of the passengers hailed from Torghar, Shangla and Haripur.A five-member family from Torghar and four-member family from Haripur were among the victims. The missing persons included Zahir, Bakht Baz, Hafiz, Ghaffarullah, Yasmeen Bibi, Sidra Bibi, Sahab Khan, Gul Badan, his wife Rafia Bibi, son Waseem, daughter Aiman, Muhammad Zaman, Umarzada, Tahiroon Bibi, Abida Bibi, Master Duriyaman, his wife Anzala Bibi and his maternal grandson Talha.The bodies of four minor boys that were pulled out from the lake included Awais, son of Umarzada, (2), Adil (2) son of Gul Bahadur, Inamul Haq (14-months, son of Ikramul Haq and Mubashar (4), son of Waqas.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/32dEgpN