The death toll from the sinking of an overloaded boat carrying students on a lake on a school trip to Pakistan on Sunday has risen to 51 dead, including 49 children, police said Tuesday.
Rescue services dived into the very cold waters of Tanda Dam Lake near Kohat in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for three days to recover the bodies of children from a madrasa.
A teacher and the driver of the boat were also among the victims, said Fazal Naeem, a local police spokesman who reported the new toll, which was confirmed by a military source.
“The boat capsized, it was overloaded, it had a maximum capacity of 20 to 25 people,” he said.
Five people were rescued, four students and a teacher.
“More than 25 divers, including soldiers, participated in this mission,” said Khateer Ahmad, an emergency services official.
The initial toll was ten dead.
Drownings with many casualties are common in Pakistan, where damaged and overloaded ships can capsize.
Many Pakistanis cannot swim.