Five of family drown while trying to save each other in Syria’s Al Asi river
Two men, a woman, and two children among dead as family outing turns deadly
Dubai: Five members of a family have drowned in the Al Asi River in Syria’s Idlib countryside.
The sequence of events unfolded as each family member attempted to save the other from the perilous waters.
According to a statement by the Syrian civil defence teams, commonly known as the White Helmets, two men, a woman, and two children from the same family among the dead.
It all started when one of the children began struggling in the water.
The father dived in to rescue his child, only to be swept away by the powerful currents. One by one, each family member tried to rescue the other, ultimately leading to the loss of five lives.
“The tragedy is great with the loss of five civilians from one family,” Samer Abji, a volunteer at the White Helmets, told the media.
The family, from the village of Al Sukariya in the Jisr Al Shughour area, consisted of a 60-year-old man, a woman, two children aged 12 and 15, and a 25-year-old young man, according to activist Adnan Al Tayeb.
According to the White Helmets, this year alone they have recovered 21 bodies from various water bodies in northwestern Syria, but have managed to rescue 37 people.