Humanitarian work: Training held for rescue operations

NGO trains a group of professional rescue workers to combat the number of people drowning in Gilgit / Chitral rivers.

GILGIT:

Following a worrying increase in the number of people drowning in the Gilgit and Chitral rivers, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has trained a group of professional rescue workers, officials said on Monday.

The training session was organised by Focus Humanitarian Assistance and was attended by 15 professionals including two women from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral District.

Focus official Noor Muhammad said that four experts had come from England to train the rescue workers, adding that there was a strong need for such professionals, especially when the water level rises in summer.

“At least 10 people who were trying to cross the river have lost their lives in separate incidents in the Gilgit River alone.”

A child also drowned while he was fetching water from the river,” he explained.

Following the growing number of drowning incidents, the district administration imposed a ban on swimming in the rivers, Muhammad added.

The official said that the participants had been trained in boat operation, swimming, and search and rescue of drowning people.

He further said that the NGO had obtained three specialised rescue boats for emergency use, adding that the boats would be based in Gilgit, Chitral and Karachi.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2011.