TAXILA: Five people drowned and two others went missing in Indus River in separate incidents in Attock, police and Rescue 1122 sources said.

In the first incident, two brothers, Adil and Suleman, residents of Haji Shah village, had gone to Attock Khurd for picnicking. While bathing in Indus River, they lost their balance and went missing in the waters. Till the filing of this report, they had not been found and were presumed dead.

Separately, bodies of a woman and her minor daughter were found floating in a mini dam in the limits of Fatehjang police station.

Local admin cracks down on swimming in Indus Rive

Police sources said some passerby spotted the bodies in Mithu Khan Dam located on Dhokri Road. Later, local divers fished out the bodies and shifted them to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital for autopsy where they were identified as 25 years old Mariam Bibi and her two years old daughter, Eman.

In another incident, two friends, Arshad Hayat and Aabid Kareem, came from Nehlad to Tawen mini dam in Pinidigheb for picnic. However, both drowned in the dam while swimming.

Separately, a man identified as Ihtesham drowned while bathing in a pond located near Danish School in the limits of Jand police station.

Due to the rising cases of drowning, a local administration team, led by the assistant commissioner in Hazro, launched a crackdown against picnickers swimming in Indus River in Attock Khurd. The officials sealed swings and closed all private recreational points to avert any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, two persons were killed and 11 injured in two incidents in Attock on Saturday.

In the first incident, Abdul Khalil was travelling with his daughter on a motorcycle from Kot Chagi to Jand when he crashed into another motorcycle. The man died on the spot while his daughter was injured.

In the second incident, a motorcyclist identified as Tanveer Ahmed was killed after being run over by a speeding dumper on G.T. Road in the limits of Hassanabdal police station.

Moreover, 10 people were injured, four of them critically, when two pickups with women and children on board collided with each other on G.T. Road near Hattian in the limits of Hazro police station.

Two men were trapped in the wreckage of the vehicles and had to be retrieved after cutting the body of the vehicle.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2021