One child drowns in KP’s Swat River, two others missing: officials

A child drowned on Sunday while her two siblings were missing in the Swat River in the Butkhela area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand district, according to officials.

Malakand Assistant Commissioner Waheedullah Khan told Dawn.com that three siblings were bathing in the river when the incident occurred.

“A 12-year-old girl’s body was recovered from the river, while the search for her two brothers is continuing,” Waheedullah said.

Meanwhile, Nasir Khan, district emergency officer for the Rescue 1122 Malakand, said in a statement that the incident occurred near the Japan bridge in Butkhela, over the river.

“The three siblings drowned in the river and their ages were between 10 to 13,” Nasir was quoted as saying. “The search for the remaining two bodies will continue and civil defence teams are also taking part.

The Rescue 1122 official identified the recovered girl as 12-year-old Azra and her missing brothers as 10-year-old Bilal and 13-year-old Muhammad Sadiq.

“The search operation in the river has now paused and will resume early tomorrow morning,” Nasir added.

On July 31, a girl was rescued by locals while two were still missing after falling into the Indus River in KP’s Shangla district, according to the police.