Search operation for missing people in Neelum valley footbridge collapse enters third day

Divers of Pakistan Navy and SSG are also participating in the operation

MUZAFFARABAD: The search for the drowned bodies continues in Jagran stream in Neelum Valley for the third consecutive day, an official said on Tuesday.

“Rescuers and divers are facing difficulty in search operation due to rising water of the Neelum valley. The water level has risen due to rain in the upper areas of Neelum Valley…frequently hampers our search operation,” Deputy Commissioner Neelum Shahid Mahmood said.

He added that the divers of Pakistan Navy, Commandos of Special Services Group of Pakistan Army, personnel of Rescue 1122 and divers of local trackers company were participating in the search operation besides volunteers of a social organization Falah-e-Insaniant Foundation.



The commissioner said that a dead body of a woman tourist was recovered from the River Neelum at Noseeri on Monday evening. “The deceased has been identified as Faiza Noman, a resident of Lahore,” he said and added that the dead body has been handed over to the family of the deceased.

The rescuers are still searching for the bodies of two students of Sahiwal Medical College Amna Kausar and Imtal Mansoor. The two other students of TIPS College Rashid and Muazzam and a local resident Saim Shifat were among those who are still missing, said DC Mahmood.

The tragic incident involving killing of 12 tourists and injuring 11 others took place on Sunday when around two dozen tourists, mostly students from Faisalabad, stopped to take pictures on the bridge, located over the Jagran Nullah in Kundal Shahi area of Azad Kashmir. The bridge collapsed as it could not withstand load.