A 6-year-old boy drowned to death while his friend was saved from a sewage pond in the Railway Colony of Moghalpura police limits after Rescue 1122 officials reached to location four hours after being called on Monday.
Locals of the area staged a protest against Punjab government on its failure to change the pond into a children park for the last many years. They chanted slogans against the apathy of government and demanded that the pond should be filled with soil to avert further incidents.
The deceased boy was identified as Waqas, 6, the only son of a labourer Hakeem Ullah, resident of Kachi Abadi, Begumpura.
On the day of incident, Waqas was playing cricket along with his 5-year-old friend Rafi Ullah in Singhpura. While trying to get the ball that had fallen in the pond, they were sucked in and one of them was saved after they screamed.
Rescue officials were informed by the locals at around 4 pm but their divers reached the spot after four hours which resulted into the death of victim boy. The divers fished out the body of Waqas at 7:05pm. After knowing about the death of Waqas, locals of the area protested against rescue officials and the authorities concerned. They were of the view that it was third incident that they have lost precious lives of their beloved ones. They said the Punjab government had announced to convert the pond into a children park but nothing has so far been done.
Local police also reached the scene and assured them to inform the authorities about their concern.
