MUZAFFARABAD: Two boys drowned while taking bath in a river near here on Sunday, police said.

Azeem Mirza, 14, and Abdul Ghaffar Shaikh, 8, were reportedly bathing on the left bank of the roaring Jhelum River near Kunwan Wala Bagh village, about 26 kilometres south of here, when they were swept away at about 1:30am, said Zaheer Ahmed, an official at the Garhi Dupatta police station.

The bodies of the children could not be recovered till late evening, he added.

The official regretted that many people were not strictly restraining their children from visiting the raging water channels amidst extraordinarily heavy flow of water in the monsoon season.

“Jhelum is a killer river particularly these days but nevertheless parents allow or tend to ignore their children swimming or taking bath in it,” he said.

The official added that on Monday last another 14-year-old boy, identified as Raza Ansar Qureshi, had drowned in Jhelum River near the town of Badhiara.

His body has not been found despite the passage of almost one week, he said.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2022