PESHAWAR, Jan 29 (Reuters) – At least 10 children were killed on Sunday when a boat carrying religious school students capsized in the Tanda dam in northwest Pakistan, officials said, as rescue efforts continued.
Another six were injured and had been taken to hospital, according to Furqan Khan, the deputy commissioner of Kohat district in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the accident took place.
The victims were young students at a nearby religious school, Khan said. More students were missing, said the officials who did not provide details on how many.
The students who had died were aged between seven and 12 years, according to a list shared with Reuters by the district’s commissioner.
Khan said there had been incidents in the past and police had closed the dam for recreational trips.
Video footage by local broadcasters and on social media showed rescuers in the water.
The accident came the same day as a bus accident in southern Pakistan that killed more than 40 people.
Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Robert Birsel and Muralikumar Anantharaman
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Source : Reuters