Overview
- A three-wheeled loader rickshaw carrying roughly 24–26 wedding guests lost control and fell into the Muzaffargarh Canal Monday night, trapping women and children.
- Rescue teams have recovered 12 bodies and rescued 11 survivors but the toll remains fluid because some outlets and officials report as many as 15 fatalities and several children are still missing.
- Authorities have widened searches along up to a 20–32 kilometre stretch of canal and are using boats, scuba divers and reduced water flows to recover victims carried downstream by strong currents.
- Early witness and official accounts point to overspeeding, overloading or a reported race with another vehicle as the proximate causes of the crash.
- Punjab officials, including the Kot Addu district command and the chief minister, have ordered all available resources be used in recovery efforts and families are holding funerals while searches continue.