Five women drowned in the River Indus while washing clothes in Jaglot town of Gilgit district on Thursday, police said.

Local residents in Jaglot recovered the bodies of two women while search for the remaining three is underway, Superintendent of Police (SP) Gilgit Mohammad Ayaz said.

He said that rescue teams had been dispatched from Gilgit city to recover the remaining three women's bodies.

The women were washing clothes alongside the river when one of them slipped on the wet bank. The other four women, who tried to pull her out, were carried away by the current.

SP Ayaz said the victims belonged to the same family.