Man sacrifices life to save drowning children in Tashkent

On May 5, social media was flooded with reports that two girls had fallen into the Borijar Canal in Tashkent and that a 43-year-old man, identified as A.S., drowned while trying to save them. Hayot Shamsutdinov, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General’s Office, later confirmed the incident and shared details of the ongoing legal procedures.

According to Shamsutdinov, the prosecutor’s office has launched a pre-investigation inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death. 

“We express our deepest condolences and sympathies to the relatives of the deceased who demonstrated great courage during this tragic event,” he stated.

Eyewitness accounts and reports circulating on social media allege that construction work is currently underway on a promenade along part of the canal bank. It is claimed that thousands of trees were felled for this purpose, and the construction has allegedly been conducted in violation of safety regulations. Additionally, there are claims that the canal banks had been concreted on the day of the incident, leaving no place for people to stand or hold onto, which may have contributed to the tragedy—even though A.S. was reportedly a skilled swimmer.

It is worth noting that this is not the first fatality linked to the Borijar Canal. In April of last year, a 5-year-old boy, a woman, and a man were swept away by the current in a section of the canal running through the Chilanzor district. In June, a student drowned, and in August, the body of a 73-year-old man was found in the same canal.