Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 31: Three people, including a father who jumped into the Lidder river in Pahalgam to save his son, a three-year-old boy who fell into a canal in Tangmarg, and a young man swept away along with his father in Bandipora area, died in separate drowning incidents across Kashmir today.
In the first incident, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, 42, of Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar, is feared dead after being swept away by the fast-flowing waters of the Lidder River near the Langanbal area of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Officials said Mir had travelled to Pahalgam with his family on a leisure trip. The family was taking photographs along the riverbank near Kolahoi Green Hotel when his son, Fahad, accidentally slipped into the water.
Mir jumped into the river in an attempt to rescue the boy but lost his footing and was carried away by the strong current. Local residents managed to pull the child to safety, but Mir disappeared in the water.
Rescue teams from the State Disaster Response Force and rafting units launched a search operation, which was continuing late Sunday.
In a separate incident in the Tangmarg area of north Kashmir, a three-year-old boy died after falling into a canal.
The child, identified as Abu Bakar, son of Mohammad Younis of Chanapora, Tangmarg, was pulled from the water and rushed to Sub-District Hospital Tangmarg. Doctors declared him dead on arrival, officials said.
Meanwhile, a drowning incident in the Surrinder area of Bandipora district claimed the life of a young man after he and his father were swept away by strong currents in a local stream.
According to officials, the father and son accidentally slipped into the water, triggering a rescue operation by police personnel and local volunteers. Rescuers managed to save the father, who was provided initial medical treatment before being shifted to Srinagar for specialized care.
After several hours of search efforts, rescue teams recovered the body of the son from the water body.
Authorities have urged residents and visitors to exercise caution near rivers, canals and other water bodies, particularly during periods of strong currents and rising water levels.
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