SWAT: At least 13 tourists drowned in the flooded River Swat on Friday after being caught in the gushing water while having breakfast on the riverbank, rescue officials confirmed.
The casualties occurred near Mingora as the water level in the river rose following two days of rainfall.
According to eyewitnesses, 22 tourists, who had arrived from Sialkot and Mardan, were having breakfast along the river near the Bypass in Mingora, a popular picnic spot, when they were caught in the flood.
Niaz Khan, the spokesperson for Swat Rescue 1122, said eight bodies had been recovered so far, while the search was underway for five missing individuals.
He confirmed that all other trapped people were successfully rescued.
13 members of tourist family perish after becoming stranded amid raging River Swat rapids
The deceased were identified as Ayan, 7; Rubina, 45; Ajwa, 18; Sharmeen, 16; Murab, 18; and Tazmeen, 20; from Sialkot, and Aishal Naseer and Farman Hussain from Mardan.
Muhammad Mohsin, a tourist from Sialkot who managed to survive, said 17 people were sitting for breakfast, of which 10 drowned, while seven were saved by locals and Rescue 1122 divers.
Videos of the incident showing the victims stranded in the flooded river went viral on social media.
Eyewitnesses and locals said the tourists, including families, were caught off guard by the rapidly rising water level.
They claimed the tourists remained stranded for over an hour, but rescue teams didn’t arrive in time to save them. Locals tried to save the trapped tourists, with one man, Muhammad Hilal, rescuing three people from the gushing river. According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 16 persons were washed away, of whom three were rescued and nine dead bodies have been recovered. Four persons were still missing.
PDMA has put the death toll at 10, including four men, three women and four children.
In its report, the authority claimed the victims “went into the [middle] of River Swat”.
Earlier, the PDMA had issued a flood alert after water as the discharge level in Swat river at Khwazakhela surged to 77,782 cusecs — a very high flood state.
Fayaz Zafar, a local journalist, said despite the warning, the district administration didn’t take preventive measures, such as imposing Section 144, which could have restricted public access to riverbanks.
Locals also pointed to gravel mining in the riverbed as a contributing factor to the disaster, as it “altered the natural flow of the river”, making it more prone to flooding.
Deaths in other areas
According to PDMA, six people got trapped in flooded water bodies in Lower Dir. Five of them were rescued, while the search for one person, who drowned near Ghari Rahimabad, was underway.
They included two women, as many children and an elderly man, officials said.
The dead body of one person was also recovered from the Swat river in Malakand.
In Abbottabad, Rescue 1122 recovered the bodies of two children who drowned in the Door river on Thursday.
According to officials, the identities of the deceased had not been confirmed. Their bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital, Havelian for legal formalities.
The region received heavy rainfall, especially in Abbottabad and the surrounding hilly areas of Galiyat, which inundated residential areas and flooded water bodies.
The main Abbottabad-Mansehra Road remained blocked for several hours at Supply and at Kala Pul due to overflowing water.
In Door river has also swelled in Harno, Abbottabaed, after which, the local administration warned tourists against approaching the riverbank.
Additionally, police have set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the river to restrict public access.
Responding swiftly to emergency calls, the Rescue 1122 Water Rescue and Disaster Team rushed to both sites. After intense efforts, they successfully evacuated all the trapped individuals to safety without any casualties.
In Shangla, three vehicles were damaged after being hit by falling rocks during a landslide, triggered by heavy rains in Bely Baba area on Friday morning.
Flash floods were also reported in different rivers, including the Indus.
Umar Rehman, the Shangla police spokesperson, told Dawn the vehicles which were parked near a hotel.
He said a portion of the hotel was also affected by the landslide. However, no casualties were reported.
Rashid Javed in Abbottabad, Umar Bacha in Shangla and Haleem Asad in Lower Dir contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025
