At least eighteen members of a family drowned in flash floods in the river Swat in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, rescue officials said.
The bodies of seven people have been recovered so far, they added.
“The rescue operation is being conducted at five different locations and 80 personnel of Rescue 1122 are participating in the search operation,” Rescue 1122 Director General Shah Fahad was quoted as saying in a press release.
According to initial information, the family was part of a tourist group visiting the region and was trapped in the rising waters caused by heavy rains upstream.
The Swat is a perennial river in the northern region of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.
Flash floods prompted by heavy rain in Swat district have engulfed several areas, leaving dozens stranded, officials said.
A large-scale search operation is currently underway to trace the remaining missing individuals, authorities added.
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