Petitioner moves SHC over Karachi beach tragedy

KARACHI: A petition was submitted on Saturday in the Sindh High Court over the apparent lack of a contingency plan to prevent the Karachi beach tragedy. The petition, submitted by Nadeem Sheikh Advocate, stated that the institutions concerned should have formulated an emergency plan for the beaches before Eidul Fitr. The petition has made the Sindh government and Inspector General Sindh Police a party to the application. The petitioner further said that a thorough inquiry of the incident which has claimed lives of at least 34 people should take place. He added that the autopsies of those who died should be carried out as a high number of deaths occurred due to sea pollution. The holidaymakers had drowned while bathing at Clifton and Hawkesbay beaches on the second day of Eidul Fitr. Officials and rescue personnel had said that this was the highest death toll on Karachi’s beaches in recent history. Officials moreover put the onus on picnickers for not being careful while swimming in rough seas amid poor security and administrative arrangements.