Early yesterday morning, Sajjad Ali heard a man crying for help. When he went near, he was shocked to see two cars floating in the sea.
Ali is a life guard deployed at the Sea View by Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) since the last nine years. After watching the two sinking cars near Captain Farhan Ali Shaheed Park, he immediately called other lifeguards for assistance.
“The cars were some 22 feet deep in the seawater and over 150 yards from the shore,” Ali said. After countless attempts, the lifeguards decided it was beyond human capacity to pull the two cars out so they called for a tractor and a boat.
The two cars, one grey and one white, were brand new models of Suzuki Mehran. According to the CBC spokesperson, Amir Arab, it was at around four in the morning when members of a family parked their cars near the seashore.
During night and early morning, a low tide sees the seawater move away from the shore, however, as the sun rises, the waves become powerful again, explained Ali. “At around 6am the tides became high and the cars were swept away by the waves,” he said, adding that the family never realised this could ever happen.
It took around two hours to pull the cars out, he said. “A diver swam inside the water and tied a rope to the cars and then the tractor provided by CBC pulled them out,” he explained.
“The windscreen of one of the cars was completely destroyed,” he said. No person was inside the car when the incident occurred.
According to Ali, this was not a unique incident. Once, a Shahzore truck and a Pajero were also submerged in the sea, he said.
“There is a vast space behind Dolmen Mall [Clifton] that allows people to bring vehicles near the shore,” he pointed out and added that there wasn’t any guard posted there to stop them.
Punishable offence?
There was confusion between CBC and the police regarding whether vehicles are allowed at the shore.
According to Darakhshan police duty-officer Ghulam Yaseen, owners of both cars were neither arrested nor fined, as there isn’t a law pertaining to the situation.
Only when Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is imposed, the public is prohibited to go inside the water or bring their vehicles near the shore, he said. Otherwise, there is no law restricting the act.
On the other hand, Arab insisted that CBC has strict policies regarding people who take their vehicles near the shore. A vigilance team along with life guards is present at the shore round the clock to forbid people from taking vehicles to the shore, he said.
The family must have taken advantage of the darkness and managed to park their cars near the shore, he explained.
