GUJRAT: Two sisters drowned in the Upper Jhelum Canal while their youngest brother was rescued by an elder brother on Sunday.

Rescue 1122 and official sources said four siblings had come to visit the New Metro City Sara-i-Alamgir from Kharian city and reached the canal while roaming the area. The eldest brother Haider (17) went a bit away while making a phone call while his three siblings, Anum (16), Hina (12) and Umar (8), were sitting at the canal bank.

Sara-i-Alamgir Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Akmal said Anum and Hina were taking selfies on their mobile phone when one of them fell into the canal. The other sister and the younger brother also jumped into the canal to save her. They started crying for help. Their elder brother heard the cries and jumped into the canal. However, he could save only the youngest brother while both the sisters drowned.

Mr Akmal said the rescue divers launched a search operation to recover the bodies. The canal is around 200 feet wide and 10 to 15 feet deep and the rescuers have so far failed to find the bodies.

Official sources said as per the standard operating procedures, the search operation could continue for 72 hours after the incident as the bodies would mostly come to surface after that duration.

The AC said the search operation had been halted and it would be resumed on Tuesday morning.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2023