September 23, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 10, 1428

GILGIT, Sept 22: A 15-year-old boy put his life on the line and rescued two minor schoolgirls from drowning on Saturday when they fell from a 100-foot-high suspension bridge over River Gilgit.

Witnesses said that nursery class students Kulsoom and her younger sister Komal were crossing the overloaded Gilgit Bridge during a school break at around 10am when a vehicle coming from the opposite end forced them to move back.

The sisters, walking hand-in-hand, tried to hold on to the bridge but due to missing handles, they slipped and fell 100 feet down into the river, situated between Kot Mohalla and Konodas.

Hundreds of onlookers watched helplessly as the two girls were swept away by the river currents. Ibrar, a student of class VIII and son of a police constable, jumped immediately in to save the precious lives, witnesses said.

Following a brisk swim, Ibrar managed to rescue Komal near an under-construction bridge after she had floated about 100 yards.

The boy again jumped into the river and rescued with great difficulty Kulsoom who by then had drifted about 400 yards from the bridge near the Girls Degree College Gilgit at River View Road. The boy suffered injuries in his leg during the rescue effort.

The two sisters were admitted to a hospital where doctors said their condition was stable. Many NGOs and civil society organisations have announced that they will honour the young hero for his courage and humanism.

Meanwhile, residents of nearby localities protested against the mishap and closed the suspension bridge for traffic after the incident.

They demanded an inquiry against the contractor responsible for repairing the bridge at a cost of Rs1.6m but who had not done so even after a lapse of four months.

The protesters said the suspension bridge had been built in the eighteenth century during the Dogra Raj.

The bridge still bears the highest load of pedestrians and vehicles even though it was meant only for pedestrians.

They said the growing number of vehicles had endangered the bridge but the local works department remains indifferent to the situation.

They said the work on an under-construction RCC bridge had started three years back near the dilapidated bridge but its completion is nowhere insight.