This is not for the first time when the tourists has been trapped in the hilly areas or drowned in the rivers, but as nations we cannot learned any lesson form that, therefore the summer season become a symbol deaths in the country. As result of that negligence every year dozens of children and youngsters have drowned in the rivers and killed in disasters, but things are not being changed yet.
On one hand the tourists that visiting to the hilly areas are not taking safety measures and another hand the relevant authorities are also responsible for the very year’s death of the tourists, because the federal and provincial governments are failed to provide facilities and safety tools to tourists.
Yesterday another deadly disaster happen in the swat valley that took 9 lives of a single family. According to the reports, rescuers retrieved nine bodies from the Swat River on Friday after at least 18 members of the same family were swept away by a sudden surge of water level.
Three individuals have been rescued, according to rescue officials.
The affected family hailing from Sialkot was on a leisure trip, having breakfast by the riverbank when heavy rains upstream caused an unexpected and rapid increase in water flow rescue officials said.
The tragic incident occurred around 8am, leaving guests unaware of the looming danger.
“We received information about the drowning of these people around 8am. There were guests on the bypass who were sitting on the bank of the river. These people were not aware of the water relay,” a rescue official said.
Upon receiving the alert, a rescue operation was immediately launched.
While three individuals have been successfully pulled to safety and the bodies of five recovered, the search for the remaining missing family members continues amidst challenging conditions.
Deputy Commissioner Swat Shehzad Mehboob reiterated that Section 144, which prohibits bathing in and approaching the river, is in force.
He expressed concern that despite these restrictions, tourists continue to venture into dangerous areas.
A distraught tourist, who identified himself as a family member, recounted the harrowing ordeal, saying that 10 members of his immediate family were swept away, with the body of one woman found and the search for nine children was underway.
“We were having breakfast and drinking tea, and the children went to take a selfie near the river. At that time, there was not much water in the river,” he said.
He further explained that rescue officials arrived to the scene hours after the incident was reported and failed to rescue the children who were struggling in the river when rescuers reached the location.
Multiple flood-related incidents in Swat has prompted the deployment of the Pakistan Army for rescue and relief operations.
Troops, fully equipped with necessary gear, had reached Swat and actively participated in the rescue and relief missions alongside Rescue 1122 personnel. Although the rescue 1122 and troops have competently participate in the rescue operation but unfortunately we have the same problems that our local government authorities and rescue teams had in the 90s, actually the relevant authorities are continuously failing to provide facilities to rescue teams.
It should be remember that in the above disaster, the deaths have reached to 9, because of the non-availability of the equipment’s with rescue 1122, yesterday when the rescue team reached at spot, that had no boats and other important kit’s, so when they return back the to the spot 9 people were dead. Therefore the government once again needs to equip the recue 1122 according to the modern era. If such negligence could be continue in the future, so the disasters would also be happen again and again and the responsibilities of such deaths would be on the shoulders of the relevant authorities of the federal and provincial governments.
