KARACHI: At least 21 bodies of picnickers, most of them youth were pulled out at different points of Clifton and Hawke's bay beaches here till Thursday while search for the other missing people was continued by the rescue agencies. Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui is personally monitoring the rescue operation being conducted with the help of Pakistan Coast Guards, Fire Brigade and other City government departments at the beaches, official sources said.

More than two dozens holidaymakers had drowned while bathing at Clifton and Hawke's bay beaches on the second day of Eidul Fitr.

The rescue teams had recovered 19 bodies from different points of Clifton beach while two from Hawke's bay.

In the meantime police arrested eight people from Clifton beach who were bathing there in violation of ban U/S 144 Cr.PC on entering/ bathing in the sea, the sources said.

The bodies of 18 ill-fated picnickers have been handed over to their families while three bodies were kept at Jinnah Hospital, they said.

Thousands of picnickers had turned up at the city beaches on the second day of Eid although the administration had imposed ban on entering or bathing in the sea due to rough sea condition.

The Commissioner has appealed to the people not to violate the ban as the sea water is rough and dangerous for life.