At least six people were killed, and three others went missing after a tourist boat carrying nine capsized in a lake in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, police said. The incident happened on Wednesday at Saifullah Lake in the Kalam Valley of Upper Swat district, a popular tourist destination.
All passengers on board were of same family
According to police, all nine passengers on board belonged to the same family when the boat overturned during a trip on the lake.
Rescue 1122 teams from Swat rushed to the spot after receiving information about the accident and immediately launched a search-and-rescue operation.
Officials said the bodies were recovered from the lake near the Mahodand area, while efforts are still underway to trace the remaining missing family member. They added that all the victims were residents of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the concerned authorities. He also directed the administration to take strict action if negligence or misconduct is found to have contributed to the tragedy.
14 children killed after roof collapsed
Earlier on Tuesday, at least 14 children were killed, and several others were injured after a roof of a private tuition academy collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area, local media reported, citing officials.
Confirming the death toll, Punjab province Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazeer said “around 20 people” were trapped under the debris, including the 14 children who were brought dead to the Kahna Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital.
Following the completion of the search and rescue operation, a Rescue 1122 spokesperson, Farooq Ahmed, said that a female teacher and eight children were admitted to Lahore General Hospital (LGH) with multiple injuries. He added that five of the children were in critical condition. “The children were very young, and there were two rooms in use. The ceilings collapsed and trapped the children, Dawn quoted Ahmed as saying.
Reports suggest that roof and building collapses are a recurring problem in Pakistan, where weak safety enforcement and substandard construction materials have repeatedly contributed to such tragedies.
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