9 People Trapped in Swollen Tawi River Rescued

Nine men were rescued on Wednesday in a joint operation by police and SDRF teams after they were trapped in the Tawi river following a sudden rise in the water level due to rains that lashed many parts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

- HTC and agencies

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Nine men were rescued on Wednesday in a joint operation by police and SDRF teams after they were trapped in the Tawi river following a sudden rise in the water level due to rains that lashed many parts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Heavy rain disrupted traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway for over three hours on Wednesday morning, while a couple of vehicles were also washed away when a stream overflowed in Rajouri district, the officials said.

Madan Lal, 52, a laborer, had gone for sand extraction in the Tawi around 8:45 a.m. but got trapped due to the sudden rise in the water level near Jewel Chowk bridge in Jammu city. He was rescued by State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, who dropped a ladder from the bridge and managed to pull him out after remaining trapped for around two hours, the officials said.

Eight more people, including some who had gone for 'pind daan (ritual performed after the death of a person)', were rescued in a joint operation by police, traffic cops, SDRF and local volunteers, the officials said.