KOHAT/MANSEHRA: Four Afghan children drowned in the Kotki Payan natural pond in the Hangu district on Tuesday.

However, one child was rescued and hospitalised.

Bodies of the two children were taken away by the respective families to Afghanistan, while the others were buried here temporarily.

The deceased were identified as Badruddin, 6, Sohail, 4, Ismail, 7, and Naimat, 6. Hikmat, 9, was saved by Rescue 1122 personnel and shifted to the KDA Divisional Headquarters Hospital, Kohat.

Meanwhile, the body of one of the two siblings, who had drowned in the Kunhar River in the Tarapi area of Kaghan Valley earlier this year, was recovered by rescuers on Tuesday.

“We have recovered the body of the drowned girl and handed it over to her family,” a Rescue 1122 official told reporters.

The body of six-year-old Fatima, who had slipped into the river along with her eight-year-old brother, Sameer, was recovered by Rescue 1122 workers from the Kunhar River after residents spotted it in the Khania area of Kaghan Valley.

The body was shifted to a nearby health facility and later handed over to the family.

Sameer and Fatima, who had come from Balakot to visit their grandparents in Tarapi in Kaghan Valley, slipped from a rocky surface and fell into the Kunhar River on April 20 this year.

The strong current had swept them downstream. Rescue and search operations continued for almost a week after the incident. However, neither of the bodies could be traced or recovered, forcing rescuers to suspend the operations.

The body of Fatima was recovered after residents spotted it in the river and informed Rescue 1122.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2026