Five including three minors drown in J-K

Five people including three minors drowned in separate incidents in Udhampur and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Saturday.

Preeti (4) and Jyoti (5), originally from Rajasthan, lived in a slum cluster along the banks of Dhirma stream in Udhampur and drowned on Friday as the water level in the stream had risen due to heavy rains, a police officer said.

Efforts are on to locate the bodies of the girls, who were playing outside their hutment, they said.

In another incident in the district, a local boy-- Rohit Kumar (11) drowned in the Garnai stream while bathing on Friday. His body was fished out and handed over to his family, they said.

In the third incident, two women identified as Sonia (25) and Manju (30), hailing from Rajasthan, drowned due to flooding of Manowar stream near Jhulla bridge in Rajouri district on Friday.

The women, who were living in huts on the banks of the stream, were cleaning utensils when they were washed away by the strong current, a police officer said.

Both the bodies were fished out by rescuers, they said.