Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Wednesday claimed responsibility and apologized for the death of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole earlier this week, acknowledging that the city administration and rescue officials had failed to respond effectively.
Speaking with media after visiting the home of the victim, he said he had offered his condolences and accepted responsibility for the tragic incident. He vowed strict action against anyone found negligent.
“I apologize for this incident as mayor. My top priority is to ensure that no other child suffers the same fate,” he said, adding the relevant engineer from the Sewerage Corporation had been suspended while the senior director of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had been removed. Additionally, he said, the region’s assistant commissioner and revenue officer were also suspended while action was underway against the SSP East and deputy commissioner East.
Wahab also regretted that the response from Rescue 1122 and City Wardens proved inadequate, noting the administration should have immediately restricted access to the area and its failure had hampered rescue efforts. He said the government had devised a new standard operating procedure to immediately cordon off any area facing a similar situation.
He vowed the government would learn from its mistakes in this incident. “As mayor, I was not successful in this incident, and I personally apologize,” he reiterated. “May no mother lose her son or sister lose her brother in this way again,” he added.
Karachi police have formed a three-member inquiry committee to probe the incident. The committee, say police would fix responsibility for the incident and submit its report to the Karachi police chief upon completion of its inquiry.
Meanwhile, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project has rejected a preliminary investigation report released by the KMC, which had alleged the manhole was left open due to construction activities for the infrastructure project.
In a statement, the BRT said the site of the incident was significantly distant from ongoing construction works, and there were no excavation or construction activities near or at the drain. It said the BRT project was not responsible for the maintenance or repair of the drainage or sewerage infrastructure at the site, emphasizing no civil works related to the BRT project were underway in the vicinity.
All ongoing BRT works have been initiated only after obtaining necessary approvals and NOCs from relevant authorities, it said, adding the nearest excavation work was approximately 300 meters away from the location of the incident and it had been closed.
On Nov. 30, Ibrahim fell into an open manhole outside a departmental store when he ran ahead of his parents toward their parked motorcycle. Family members and local residents said they had launched their own search using machinery after the failure of the government to offer aid. However, the boy could not be recovered overnight and his body was recovered the following day.
The incident triggered significant outrage on social media, with the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government drawing the most public ire.