Three Afghan nationals drowned while swimming off the coast of Babolsar in northern Iran on Friday evening. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of all three victims after several hours of searching in different parts of the shoreline. Another Afghan national who had entered the water with them survived the incident.
The incident occurred at around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, 6 Sunbula, near the Sang-Chin pier in Babolsar, Mazandaran Province. Mehdi Habibollahpour, head of the Babolsar Lifesaving and Diving Association, said that four Afghan nationals had entered the Caspian Sea to swim.
According to Habibollahpour, one of the four men fell behind his three companions because of his physical condition. After some time, he realized that his companions were no longer at the site. He left the water and reported their disappearance to the local lifesaving association.
Seyed Kazem Jalilian, head of Babolsar Emergency Services, also said that one of the four Afghan nationals was rescued from the water in the initial moments. After authorities were informed that the other three were missing, rescue teams launched a search operation along different sections of the shoreline and continued searching for several hours.
The body of the first victim was found on Saturday afternoon along the Sang-Chin beach in Babolsar. The body of the second Afghan national was discovered later that evening in a designated no-swimming area near the pier. However, the search for the third victim continued.
The search operation resumed on Sunday. After hours of searching, rescue teams found the third victim’s body along the shoreline in the Aliabad Mir area of Babolsar, bringing the search operation for all three victims to an end.
Iranian authorities have not released details about the names, ages, or places of residence of the three victims. Reports only indicate that they were Afghan nationals who had entered the Caspian Sea together to swim.
The incident is reportedly the second fatal drowning involving Afghan nationals along the shores of Mazandaran Province in recent months. On 4 Saratan, three Afghan nationals drowned while swimming in a prohibited area along the coast of Nowshahr. Five other members of the same group were rescued in that incident.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
