MANSEHRA: A man drowned in the Siren River after slipping into deep water in the Perhana area of the district on Friday.

Mohammad Ibrahim, 23, a labourer by profession, had gone to the river to take bath but accidentally slipped into deep water. A team from Pulrah police station, led by SHO Aurangzeb, rushed to the scene, recovered the body and shifted it to a nearby health facility.

The body was later handed over to the family after completion of medico-legal formalities. According to locals, the deceased had gone to the river after finishing construction work at a local mosque in the Chor Bandi area when the incident occurred.

Former nazim of Perhana Union Council Ahmad Tanoli told reporters that the man’s life could have been saved if trained divers had been present at the river. He said that he and other residents repeatedly contacted Rescue 1122 to retrieve the body, but the rescue team did not reach the spot for several hours.

Mr Tanoli said that residents of Perhana and adjoining localities had been demanding establishment of a Rescue 1122 station in their area, but to no avail.

ROAD COMPLETION ASSURED: Hazara Commissioner Fayyaz Ali Shah on Friday assured early completion of the tendering process for the construction of the Dubair-Ranowalia Road after protesters suspended their over two-month-long sit-in and allowed electricity generation from a local dam in Lower Kohistan.

“We, the government, will ensure the completion of the tendering process for the Dubair-Ranowalia Road and the acquisition of land for the Bankhad School within the stipulated period, but protesters should first take their issues to the district administration for early redress instead of staging sit-ins,” the commissioner told a meeting attended by jirga members from Lower Kohistan at his office.

MNA from Kohistan Muhammad Idrees, who is also the chairman of the national assembly’s standing committee on power division, led the jirga members in the meeting.

The commissioner also ordered the deployment of two excavators to keep the destroyed artery open until a new one is built at an alternative place.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026