KARACHI (92 News) The Sindh Local Government Department has suspended five officials after a three-year-old boy died when he fell into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.

The action follows a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who reviewed the circumstances surrounding the tragedy near the Nipa flyover.

Suspended officials include Imran Ahmed Rajput, Senior Director of Municipal Services at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation; Rashid Fayyaz, Assistant Executive Engineer at the Town Municipal Corporation; and Waqar Ahmed, Executive Engineer at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation. Gulshan-e-Iqbal Assistant Commissioner Aamir Ali Shah and Mukhtiarkar Salman Farsi were also removed from their posts.

The incident took place on Sunday night when the child, the only son of his parents, slipped into a manhole reportedly left uncovered for several days. Locals hired machinery with their own money in a desperate rescue effort, but the child was recovered 14 hours later, with witnesses claiming that official rescue teams arrived after significant delays.

Karachi police have formed a three-member inquiry committee to determine responsibility. The team has begun recording statements from the bereaved family.

Meanwhile, the Red Line BRT project has rejected claims that its construction caused the manhole hazard, stating that no works were under way near the site.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, however, has held the project and a nearby department store partly responsible in its initial report.