2 youths drown in Rajouri

Rajouri, December 1

Two youths of Poonch district drowned in a river in the vicinity of Rajouri town this afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as 21-year-old Mohammad Imran, son of Mohammad Gufar, and 17-year-old Mohammad Jamil, son of Abdul Salam, both residents of Loran village, under the Mandi police station in Poonch district. The police said both youths were working as labourers with a contractor laying underground telecommunication optical fibre cable (OFC) between Rajouri and Darhal.At about 2 pm, both the youths along with other labourers went to the river to take bath and wash clothes. According to eyewitnesses, while taking bath Abdul Salam went into waist-deep water and slipped. Imran immediately jumped into the water and went ahead to save Salam, but he also slipped in the deep waters and both drowned.

On the alarm raised by the other, people from nearby houses/shops rushed to the spot and some swimmers took them out and rushed them to the nearby district hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead.

“After legal formalities, the bodies were handed over to the family members of the deceased,” said a police officer. — OC