MINGORA/HARIPUR: Nine persons, including two brothers, drowned in Swat and Haripur while picnicking during the Eid days.

Seven tourists drowned and three others were injured as a van they were boarding plunged into the Swat River in Ramait area of Bahrain tehsil.

The van was carrying tourists back to Buner from Kalam valley, but it went out of the driver’s control and fell into the river.

Itbar Gul, a resident of Ramait, said initially four men died on the spot, three others were missing while three were injured.

A Rescue 1122 official said they reached the spot immediately and recovered the bodies of three missing persons after sometime.

He said the injured and the bodies were shifted to Madyan tehsil hospital.

The local residents said bad shape of the road was the cause of the incident.

In Haripur, two brothers drowned and another was rescued in River Siran, police said on Monday evening.

They said family of Nawaz Khan, a resident of Khalabat Township, was picnicking near Hill Beer village when some youngsters started bathing in the river, but they were swept away by the strong currents.

Local divers rescued one of them while two brothers drowned. Their bodies were fished out later and handed over to the family. They were identified as Waleed Nawaz and Zain Nawaz.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018