Search for drowned youth resumes

Rescuers on Monday resumed search for the body of a 20-year-old from Khewra who drowned while bathing in the Jhelum River near Jhuggian in Pind Dadan Khan on Sunday evening.

Rescue 1122 had called the scuba diving teams from Jhelum, with the operation resumed at 5am on Sunday.

On Sunday, three youths from Khewra had come to the area for recreation. While they were swimming, the boys got caught up in a current.

Locals jumped in and rescued two of them. The third, 20-year-old Anas Iftikhar, was returning to safety when suddenly got caught in a current and was not seen again.

The water had a depth of as much as 40 feet in the area from where Anas went missing.

Rescue teams arrived soon after but were unable to find the missing youth’s body.

An official said that they had cleared the area till a key juncture, Pathar (stone) diversion, with fears that the current had taken the body further downstream.

Officials added that the search operation would continue till the body was found.

They advised parents and adults to stop youth from going to areas without adequate precaution.

They also urged provincial authorities to impose a ban on swimming in such areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2023.