SWABI: Rescue 1122 officials on Sunday pulled out six tourists, who were stranded in the middle of the flooded Indus River after their van skidded into the waters at Hund picnic spot here.

District emergency officer Rafiullah Marwat supervised the rescue operation.

Rescue official Saqib Shah told Dawn on contact that quick response of teams helped pull the trapped tourists out of the swelling waters. He said the vehicle was also pulled out with the help of a crane.

Meanwhile, a man drowned in the Indus River at Kund Park here on Sunday while bathing, rescue officials said. They identified the deceased as Faqir Mohammad.

‘PTI FACES ELIMINATION’: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf faces elimination in Swabi district despite the fact that the party had won all the five provincial assembly and two National Assembly seats in the 2018 general elections, insiders said here on Sunday.

They told Dawn that former MNA Usman Khan Tarakai, who had won from NA-19, Swabi-II, had joined Pakistan Peoples Party; Shahram Khan Tarakai’s family seemed set to quit PTI; and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, and his brother, former MNA Aqibullah Khan, were no more interested in politics.

The insiders added Abdul Kareem, a former adviser to the chief minister, was behind the bars in a case registered against him by the anti-corruption establishment, and former MPA Rangaiz Khan was also ‘under pressure’ to quit the party.

The insiders said PTI workers were left high and dry after the May 9 incidents triggered after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

They said the PTI leaders strived to save themselves, and were not interested in helping the workers. They said the party workers booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act had been left on their own as no leader came to their rescue.

The sources said the situation had forced the Insaf Lawyers Forum, Insaf Teachers Association and other wings of the party to become inactive, badly harming the party’s position among the people.

The sources said absence of leaders from the scene had frustrated the workers and caused them to lose interest in the party’s affairs.

The sources said diehard workers were ignored during the PTI’s two stints at the helm in the province.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023