MIANWALI: Six members of a family drowned after a van fell into the Main Lower Branch Canal near Piplan on Saturday night, 30km from here.

A family of village Dab Balochan was taking a patient back home after treatment at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Piplan. As their van driver tried to overtake a vehicle, he lost control over his van and it fell into the canal. There were seven passengers, including two children and three women, of the same family in the van and only of them could be rescued while all the rest drowned. The rescuers were still searching for the bodies when this report was filed. The assistant commissioner Piplan was supervising the rescue operation.

Those drowned were identified as Abdul Rauf (35), Shakeela (40), Tanzeela (19), Dilshad Bibi (40), Abu Bakar (2) and Aman (4).

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2019