MUZAFFARABAD: Three cousins drowned while taking bath in a water channel in the Sudhnoti district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday, police said.

The incident occurred at about 5:30am in Taalian village, some 8 kilometres on the outskirts of Palandari, district headquarters of Sudhnoti, as none of the victims knew how to swim, police official Tahir Hussain told Dawn.

Giving details, the official said that Kashif Zahoor, 17, Sabir Karim, 18 and Mazhar Aslam, 25, were taking bath along the bank of the nullah when suddenly one of them slipped into the water and was swept away.

The other two tried to rescue him in succession but met the same fate, he added.

Their bodies had been recovered, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2018