SWABI, April 14: Three women of a family drowned on Saturday evening in the Pehur High Level Canal in an effort to rescue each other, as a large amount of water has been released by a construction firm for testing the canal.

Police officials told Dawn that victims, two sisters and their aunt of Baja village, were identified as Habib Zari and her nieces Zar Bibi and Taj Bibi.

The three ill-fated women, according to their relatives, had gone with some other village women to fetch water from the canal where Habib Zari slipped into deep water and was swept away. When she cried for help, her elder niece Zar Bibi jumped into the water to rescue her and drowned.

Seeing her sister and aunt drowning, Taj Bibi also tried to help them, but the gushing water overpowered her, the relatives said quoting women witnesses.

Later, the three bodies were fished out and buried in a local graveyard.

The foreign construction firm has released a large amount of water for testing the canal and the process continues for 50 days, the sources said.

When an official of the Turkish firm was contacted for his comments, he said they had already informed locals about the releasing of water.

He said the people living near the canal were also advised to be careful while taking water from it.

Meanwhile, the locals have advised their womenfolk not to bring water from the canal as its current was very fast and the canal was deep.