Waris Ali’s family (wife and son) and a friend decided to stop by the Loch beach. Little did Ali know that he would lose his family that day in Loch Lomond. “Edina Olahova, 29, and Rana Haris Ali lost their lives alongside their friend Muhammad Asim Riaz, 41, near Pulpit Rock on Saturday evening,” Sky reported.
They were on their way back from the Isle of Skye. They miscalculated the depth and drowned. By the time Ali rushed to save them, they were gone.
Mr Riaz's wife called the emergency services and a Scottish man arrived and saved Mr Riaz's son, but could not save the other three. Mr Riaz’s son is in the hospital in Glasgow in an ICU. Unfortunately, none of them except Asim knew how to swim.
Michael Avril, Water Safety Lead for the RNLI in Scotland, told Asian Voice, “The thoughts of all at the RNLI are with the families, friends and loved ones of those who lost their lives in Loch Lomond at the weekend. Our thoughts are especially with Mr Ali who has experienced an unthinkable loss. It was a truly harrowing incident, one which makes us all the more determined to reach more and more people with our safety messaging, in the hope that we can prevent future tragedies like this one.
“Despite how hot the weather has been in Scotland over the past few weeks, the water temperatures in both inland bodies of water and around our coast remain cold year around, never really getting much above ten degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, our bodies are likely to have an extreme reaction to submersion in water that is anything below 15 degrees Celsius. Even for experienced swimmers, Scotland’s waters can be shockingly cold and falling in unexpectedly, as in this situation, will almost certainly trigger cold water shock. We’d encourage anybody who has read about these tragic events to visit our website and learn a little more about what you can do should you fall into the water and how you can stay safe.”
