TAXILA: As many as four persons, including two siblings, drowned in the Indus River in two different incidents in Attock, police and rescue sources said.

In the first incident, 16-year-old Salman Ashraf, along with his 22-year-old brother Mudassir Ashraf, residents of Ratela Mandi Hazro, went to the river Indus at Attock Khurd to take bath, where Salman accidentally went into deep waters and started drowning.

According to eyewitnesses, looking for his brother in distress, Mudassir also jumped into the river to rescue his younger brother, but lost control due to the fast-flowing water, and as a result, he also drowned.

Later, local volunteers, along with Rescue 1122 divers, retrieved their bodies and shifted them to the district headquarters hospital.

Separately, two friends belonging to Chapper Sharif village drowned in the river Indus near the village of Mullah Mansoor. Both of the victims were shepherded, and they drowned while saving a sheep.

The body of 25-year-old Dilraj was retrieved while the rescue operation was continued till filing report to recover the body of another man. Respective Police registered two separate cases and launched further investigation.

The number of drowning victims in Attock over the last five days has risen to six, including four siblings. It is worth noting that every year, a significant number of people, especially youth, drown in the district’s water channels, despite the ban on bathing and swimming around water sources imposed by the district’s admonition.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2025