SRINAGAR: A 42-year-old man from Srinagar is feared dead after drowning in the Lidder River while attempting to save his son near the Langanbal area of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Sunday.
According to officials, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, son of Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir, a resident of Jawahar Nagar, Srinagar, and employed as an AC mechanic in the private sector, had visited Pahalgam along with his family on a leisure trip.
The family was taking photographs on the banks of the Lidder River near Kolahoi Green Hotel in Langanbal when his son, Fahad, accidentally slipped into the fast-flowing water.
In a bid to rescue him, Mohammad Ashraf Mir jumped into the river but lost his footing and was swept away by the strong current.
Locals present at the spot managed to rescue the boy safely. However, Ashraf was washed away and is feared dead.
Soon after the incident, a rescue operation was launched by local authorities. Teams of the State Disaster Response Force were deployed, while rafting teams also joined the search operation to trace the missing man.
Further details are awaited as the rescue operation continues.
Meanwhile, in another incident in north Kashmir’s Tangmarg area, a three-year-old boy, identified as Abu Bakar, son of Mohammad Unus of Chanapora, Tangmarg, died after drowning in a canal.
The child was shifted to Sub-District Hospital Tangmarg after being pulled out of the water, but doctors declared him brought dead, officials said.
