THATTA: Two children died and six other people were injured when a concrete-made water tank built about eight feet above the ground burst and crashed minutes after its inauguration in Haji Mubarak Jokhio village near Shora Mori town on Monday evening.

A large number of men, women and children from the village had gathered at the site when a mobile tanker pulled up to fill the tank. However, as soon as the tanker moved back, the tank and its columns started cracking and minutes later it crashed with a terrible bang, said a social worker, Rafique Jokhio, who was present there.

The falling debris hit many people around, he said, adding that 12-year-old Sakina, daughter of Hashim Jokhio, and 10-year-old Hazoor Ali, son of Ghulam Hussain Jokhio, sustained fatal injuries.

A man, Khalil Jokhio, who got both his legs fractured, and three other persons, Zameer Ali, Owais and Maria Jokhio, received multiple injuries and were rushed to Karachi in a critical condition. Two sisters, Zehra Jokhio and Fatima Jokhio, were among the other injured who were provided treatment at the Makli Civil Hospitals.

The two bodies were handed over to the heirs after a post-mortem examination performed at the hospital.

Social workers of the area said that residents of the village had pooled money for the construction of the tank to cope with a chronic shortage of water they had been experiencing for long. There was excitement and joy everywhere in the village when the huge tank was being inaugurated, they said, adding that the tragedy turned the atmosphere gloomy.