THATTA: Six labourers, including three women, who were electrocuted when their tractor-trolley struck hanging power lines near Pir Jogoth, were laid to rest on Tuesday in their ancestral graveyard as hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral prayers.
The deceased — Allah Dino, Sikandar, Hanif, Mukhtiar, Fahmida and Nazia — all belonged to Haji Muhammad Isa Panhwar village. They were returning home after a day of harvesting rice when the trolley they were riding in came into contact with sagging electricity wires near a protective bund. Six of the workers were killed on the spot and 19 others were injured. The accident was reported by The Lahore Times a day earlier.
Funeral prayers were attended by Provincial Minister Syed Riaz Hussain Shah Shirazi, District Council Chairman Abdul Hameed Panhwar and a large number of citizens, who offered condolences to the bereaved families. Six graves dug side by side in a single village graveyard left the community, which lost several breadwinners in a matter of seconds, in a state of collective mourning.
Heirs of the victims demanded that a case be registered against the HESCO chief, the tractor driver and the officials they hold responsible for the low-hanging transmission line. They called for a transparent investigation and strict punishment for those found negligent, saying the deaths were preventable rather than accidental.
Provincial Minister Ali Hassan Zardari, former minister Sassui Palijo and MNA Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Shirazi expressed deep grief over the incident. They demanded immediate financial assistance for the affected families, quality treatment for the injured and compensation for the losses suffered. The injured labourers are continuing treatment at various hospitals.
The tragedy has renewed long-standing safety concerns across rural Sindh, where harvest-season crews are routinely transported on open tractor-trolleys stacked high with paddy — a load height that brings passengers dangerously close to distribution lines strung over fields, watercourses and protective bunds. Farm labour in the district is largely informal and uninsured, which means that when a single trip ends in disaster, entire households are left without income and without any structured claim against an employer.
Attention now shifts to whether the district administration acts on the families’ demand for an FIR and whether an independent inquiry examines line clearance and maintenance in the area. Also under watch is the release of announced financial assistance, which in comparable incidents has often been slower to arrive than the condolences. A safety audit of low-hanging lines along harvest routes before the season peaks would be the clearest test of whether official assurances translate into action.
In line with The Lahore Times’ right-of-reply policy, this report will be updated if HESCO or the district administration issues a response to the allegations made by the victims’ families.
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