Two children and a man were killed after falling in a 100ft well in Karachi’s Garden West area on Sunday, rescue officials said.

Bodies have been recovered. The incident took place near Fawara Chowk, where the two children fell into the well after the iron slab covering it broke. A young man, who was identified as a plumber, entered the well to save them but did not return alive.

Live footage from the area showed a large number of people gathered in the area. It took more than two hours in the rescue mission, officials said.

“We received a call at the Central Command and Control Room at 5:40pm. When we responded, a large number of people had gathered at the site. It caused a lot of problems in the rescue operation,” said one of the rescue officials.

Rescue 1122 Operations Director Dr Abid stated that charitable organisations were working on the site before they reached the site at 6:15pm.

Initial reports said that the well has multiple water connections and a sewerage line was under it. Abid said that the investigation would tell about the purpose of the well and its maintenance.

When asked about the problems, the Rescue 1122 operations director said that the “incident occurred well before” the organisation received the call. He acknowledged that “rush, panic, and pressure” were the problems in the rescue.

He stressed the need for timely calling the organisation for quick response. He also called for calling trained people to the rescue.

Abid clarified that the Rescue 1122 was not “late” and the team reached the site 18 minutes after receiving the call.

One of the eyewitnesses claimed that the relief organisation arrived one hour after the incident occurred. They were “ill-equipped” as they did not have oxygen cylinders, proper ropes, and trained staff, he told reporters.