A search operation was launched on Sunday after two girls fell from a makeshift bridge over the Gwaldai River in the Shahi Banda area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Dir district and went missing, police said.

Zaman Shah, a sub-divisional police officer, told Dawn.com that two young girls — namely 15-year-old Samira Bibi and 12-year-old Javeria Bibi — were crossing the Gwaldai river when they fell into it and were feared to have drowned.

The official said the incident occurred within the limits of Shahi Doba’s Patrak police station, adding that the flow of water had increased recently due to glaciers melting.

Shah said that the search continues for the bodies in the river as the Rescue 1122 and locals have not succeeded yet, adding that he is present at the spot along with other officials to monitor the operation.

Pakistan is home to over 13,032 glaciers spanning the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and the Himalayan mountain ranges, making its northern region the largest reservoir of glaciers outside of the Polar Regions.

However, with striking changes in the climate, these glaciers and the habitats surrounding them are deeply troubled, with 10,000 glaciers reported to be receding.

Earlier this week, three people drowned in a canal in KP’s Malakand district, while a body was discovered in a river in Upper Dir in a separate incident.

Last month, seven people were rescued while two went missing after a boat sank in the Indus River near the province’s Kohat district.

In April, two minor sisters went missing in the Indus River in the Bisham tehsil of KP’s Shangla district.