The death toll from the sinking of an overloaded boat carrying students on a school trip to Pakistan on a lake on Sunday has risen to 51 dead, including 49 children, police said on Tuesday.
Rescue services spent three days diving into the very cold waters of Tanda Dam Lake, near Kohat, in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to recover the bodies of children from a school Koranic.
A teacher and the driver of the boat are also among the victims, told AFP Fazal Naeem, a spokesperson for the local police, who reported the new toll, 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 military personnel, took part in this mission,” said Khateer Ahmad, a rescue service 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.