Search underway to locate minor boy who fell into open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal

A rescue operation was underway on Monday to locate a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole near Nipa in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night.

Images shared on social media showed a horde of citizens gathered in the area as rescue work was underway last night. Other videos also showed the child’s distraught mother calling on someone to save her child.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the service’s central command received information about the incident at 10pm on Sunday night.

He said the boy was with his parents, who were shopping at a private departmental store near Nipa. He said the boy fell into the manhole after the family left the store.

He said that Rescue 1122 did not usually initiate search operations at night due to a lack of visibility. But, since a “highly charged” crowd had gathered and the parents were grief-stricken, officials initiated the search operation, he said.

However, rescue workers have been unable to trace the boy.

The spokesperson said that the search and rescue operation continued into the night for a considerable time. He said that the rescue operation had been halted for now, but officials had excavated five areas with the help of heavy machinery to search for the missing boy.

He said that the Rescue 1122 team had asked the authorities concerned to provide the blueprint for the underground drainage system. According to Khan, the team was waiting for information on the entry and exit flow of the underground water so that rescue work could be conducted at the exact location.

Deaths from falling into open gutters and manholes frequently occur in Pakistan, particularly in major cities like Karachi, where poorly managed drainage systems, missing or broken covers, and inadequate lighting in congested neighbourhoods often put pedestrians in danger. The gutters are filled with toxic sewage and lack oxygen, making it easy to suffocate or drown within minutes.

In September, three sanitation workers died by falling into a manhole while cleaning it in Karachi’s Usmanabad neighbourhood.

In May, a six-year-old boy fell into an open manhole in Karachi and drowned, causing a a protest by residents and politicians which prompted the police to register a case.

In April, the body of a young girl was recovered from a drain in Liaqatabad after being reported missing.