Seven people have died after a loader rickshaw carrying more than two dozen wedding guests plunged into the Muzaffargarh Canal near Sinanwan in Kot Addu.
The rickshaw was carrying members of the same family who were travelling to attend a wedding when it lost control on an unpaved road and fell into the canal, according to Kot Addu District Police Officer Mansoor Qamar.
Rescue teams have so far recovered seven bodies from the canal and pulled 11 people out alive, with the survivors taken to hospital, according to Rescue 1122 officials. The search for those still missing was continuing.
Police said the family had reported that 26 people, including women and children, were travelling in the overloaded vehicle.
Rescue officials said eight of the missing people were children aged between three and 14.
Rescue 1122, police and district administration teams are jointly conducting the operation. Officials said search teams have covered an area extending roughly 20 kilometres from the accident site in an effort to locate those still unaccounted for.
The incident occurred near Sinanwan in Kot Addu, a tehsil of Muzaffargarh district in Punjab. Officials have stated that the vehicle was travelling on a rough, unpaved route when the overloaded rickshaw became uncontrollable and entered the canal.
Authorities have not provided a final account of the number of people who remain missing. The search operation was continuing as rescue personnel worked to locate the remaining passengers.
