Five of a family drown in River Ravi

LAHORE At least five people of a family including two children drowned in River Ravi in Shadbagh area, where they were taking a bath to beat the heat on Friday evening. Efforts were underway till late night to pull out the bodies as rescue workers said that they managed to pull out one of the bodies, later identified as Shazia Bibi, 35, from the River after hours-long hectic efforts. However, four members of the family were still missing. According to initial information, police sources said, resident of Harbanspura Muhammad Ramazan alongwith his 11 other family members reached River Ravi near Bhumbay Jhuggian at Bund Road to celebrate picnic. The newly-wed Ramazan alongwith his wife Ayesha Bibi, and sisters and their children reached the river on Friday afternoon. The family members were taking a bath in the river during sizzling heat when suddenly one of them drowned in the deep river water. Later, the other family members including Samina, 18, Tayyaba, 17, Hamza, 12, and another two men, unidentified so far, jumped into the deep water for their rescue one by one. Some people who were present on the spot also joined the rescue operation. Luckily, Ammad Ali, younger son of Shazia Bibi, managed to come out of deep water. Another girl Nazia Bibi was also pulled out of deep water and was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. However, Ramazan, 29, Samina, 18, Tayyaba, 17, Hamza, 12, were still missing. Meanwhile, rescue (1122) workers reached the spot after a considerable delay and started search drive to pull out the bodies. They later managed to pull out the body of Shazia Bibi only. The rescue drive was later suspended due to bad light and lack of resources while four members of the family were still missing till filing of this report.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt