Pakistani reality contestant Saad Khan died while filming show

From Mail Online

A contestant on a Pakistani reality TV show has drowned while performing a challenge for the program.

Pakistani contestant Saad Khan, 32, was swimming across a lake while wearing a 15-pound backpack when he called out for help – and then disappeared underwater.

Horrified co-contestants and crew rushed to try to save the father of four, but could not find him in the murky waters of the lake.

An obituary notice for Saad Khan, a Pakistani reality contestant who drowned during a TV challenge

The show was being filmed on the shores of the lake in the Thai capital of Bangkok, according to spokeswoman Fareshte Aslam for the sponsor Unilever Pakistan.

Divers later recovered the body of Khan, she said, recounting eyewitness reports.

The death came during filming of the show’s 10th episode on August 19, but it was not publicized until Khan’s body was returned home to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

Thai police were investigating to determine whether the death was an accident or caused by negligence, Bangkok’s Kom Chad Luek newspaper reported earlier this month. Police have not confirmed if the investigation was completed.

Unilever Pakistan accepts no liability for Khan’s death, Aslam said, but added that the company is in discussions to provide for Khan’s wife and four children ‘out of rightness’.

A close friend of Khan’s, Babar Jumani, said by telephone that the family was not ready to talk to the media, and he declined to comment further.

Khan had already been eliminated in the as-yet-unnamed show’s previous rounds, but had returned for a special challenge to earn a spot in the finals.

Plans to air the reality show – intended as a promotional tie for Unilever’s Clear shampoo – were on hold.

Aslam said Unilever Pakistan, a division of the multinational soap and cosmetics maker, was not involved in the production of the show, which was handled by a director and crew from the Indian entertainment capital of Mumbai.

Reality television shows often subject contenders to harsh physical challenges.