Tragedy befalls: local tourists as nine die in Swat River flash floods

MINGORA/PESHAWAR: At least nine people lost their lives and four others went missing after a group of 17 tourists were swept away by a sudden surge in the Swat River on Friday morning.

The tragic incident occurred near the Bypass Road in Mingora, when a flash flood triggered by heavy upstream rains caught the group by surprise as they were having breakfast along the riverbank.

Swat Deputy Commissioner Shehzad Mehboob confirmed that nine bodies had been recovered while four people were rescued. “The rescue teams are searching for the four missing persons,” he added.

According to the district administration, 10 of the victims belonged to Sialkot, six were from Mardan and one was a resident of Swat. The group from Sialkot was on a leisure trip and had no prior warning of the rapid rise in the water level.

Eyewitness accounts suggested that the water appeared calm earlier in the morning, but surged quickly, sweeping several people away. A surviving relative, speaking to the media, described how the family was engulfed by the floodwaters.

He said that 10 members of his immediate family, including women and children, were among those swept away. The survivor expressed his anguish over the delayed arrival of rescue services, adding that by the time the teams reached the site, many of the victims had already vanished into the current.

A video doing rounds on social media showed the stranded tourists being swept away one by one by the gushing waters, w