RAWALPINDI, Aug 15: The body of one of the two journalists who drowned has been recovered from Nullah Korang and laid to rest in his hometown of Vehari.

The two journalists, Munir Ghori and Safdar Ali Nasir, associated with a local news agency called Online, drowned in Nullah Korang 17 miles from here on a picnic with their colleagues.

Navy divers helped recover Mr Ghori’s body and are still searching for the other one.

A colleague of the deceased recalled: “Four of us were sitting on a rock in the middle of Nullah when water level started rising. Two of us managed to get out, but the deceased could not muster enough courage to leave the Nullah and stood on the rock holding on to each other, from where they were swept away by the waves.”

The deceased had been associated with the news agency for the past one year and were in their late 20s.

Meanwhile, information minister Nisar Memon and Principal Information Officer Akram Shaheedi have expressed grief over the deaths and prayed to Allah to grant courage and fortitude to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with equanimity.