Rescue 1122, the emergency rescue service, has recovered the bodies of five young men in a Chenab river drowning near Ganga Wala Patan, in the Rohilanwali area of Muzaffargarh, officials said on Sunday. According to The Nation, the fifth victim was confirmed as Abdul Rehman, and the bodies of all five had been recovered. Witness accounts of the first moments do not fully match, but they agree that a strong current swept the group away after four men went in to help a friend.
How the young men entered the water
Rescue officials said eyewitnesses told them one of the young men had started to drown. Four of his friends jumped into the river to save him. All five were then carried off and drowned.
The Nation also gives two fuller accounts of how the Chenab river drowning started. In one passage it says nine people from Rohelanwali (the spelling used there) visited the bank for a picnic, and that one youth accidentally went into deep water before four others tried to reach him.
In another, the paper says eyewitnesses reported that Muhammad Ali was taking photographs for TikTok when he slipped into the current, and that the other four jumped in after him. It does not say which account officials have adopted. Both end with the same result: the current took all five.
Names and ages
The victims were identified as 18-year-old Malik Ahsan, son of Iqbal; 19-year-old Muhammad Ali; 20-year-old Rana Abdul Rehman; 22-year-old Rana Usman, son of Muhammad Tariq; and 26-year-old Muhammad Maki, son of Amir Zafar. Rescue 1122 said the bodies of Muhammad Maki, Rana Usman, Malik Ahsan, Muhammad Ali and Rana Abdul Rehman had been recovered. The report names Rana Abdul Rehman as the man whose identity was confirmed as Abdul Rehman, and it does not name Muhammad Ali's father.
Rescue boats and the command post
Mansoor Ahmed, Rescue 1122 coordinator, said an incident command post was established after the tragedy under District Emergency Officer Ubaidullah Khan, and that a search was then launched in the River Chenab. He said 25 rescuers were taking part, among them 13 swimmers and 12 divers, along with two rescue boats. The search was under Khan's direct supervision.
On the directives of Deputy Commissioner Hafiz Usman Tahir Jappa, Assistant Commissioner Umme Habiba monitored the progress of the rescue operation. The administration said officials would continue overseeing the operation and related arrangements after the recovery of all five bodies.
What the report does not settle
The Nation's account does not give a clock time for the drowning, or a figure for how deep the water was at Ganga Wala Patan. It leaves open whether the first man entered during a picnic or while Muhammad Ali was taking photographs for TikTok. Readers have the paper's report of what rescuers and eyewitnesses said. The shared fact is that an attempt to save one person in a fast current ended with five deaths.
