Retired colonel’s body found; daughter missing after car swept away in Islamabad floodwater

Rescue teams claimed on Thursday to have recovered the body of a retired army colonel who went missing after his car was swept into a drain during heavy rainfall in Islamabad . His daughter remains still missing as search efforts continue.

Retired Colonel Ishaq Qazi and his 25-year-old daughter were reported missing on Tuesday after their grey Honda vehicle was caught in strong floodwaters in Defence Housing Authority.

The father-daughter duo, residents of DHA Phase 5, were travelling when their car stopped due to rainwater accumulation on the road, the police said.

District Emergency Officer (DEO) Sibghatullah said that the body of Ishaq had been recovered near the Soan River bridge, while rescue operation was underway to search his daughter.

Earlier, rescue officials found parts of the car as the rescue operation entered the third day. 

“Rescue 1122 found the bonnet and a door of the car near the Soan River bridge,” Sibghatullah said.

Heavy monsoon rains lashed Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Tuesday, causing widespread waterlogging and severe flooding in rivers and canals across both cities.

Islamabad police had said earlier that a retired colonel and his daughter were swept away in their car within the private housing society, DHA.  Floodwaters engulfed their grey sedan, pushing it rapidly towards the surging currents. 

Onlookers captured the harrowing scene on video as a hand desperately gestured for help from a car window.