Mother, son drown in tragic accident in Sulaimani lake on Eid al-Adha

Two people drowned when a driver lost control of his vehicle and drove into a lake in Sulaimani province on the first day of Eid al-Adha, local police said on Sunday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two people traveling in a car drowned when the driver lost control of the vehicle and drove into a lake in Sulaimani province, local police said on Sunday.

The deployed emergency response units and police forces recovered the bodies of the two individuals from the Darbandikhan lake, located about 54 kilometers southeast of the central city of Sulaimani.

Following the incident, Kurdistan 24 learned that the victims were a mother and her son. The two were going to a designated swimming area in the lake, where the mother would swim as part of a hydrotherapy session.

Related Article: Five members of family drown in river in Duhok while picnicking

In 2018, 602 people were killed and thousands more injured in car accidents across the Kurdistan Region, according to traffic police statistics.

Authorities say many fatal car accidents are caused by reckless driving. However, poor road quality, as well as inadequate traffic laws, have also been blamed.

Related Article: Tragic car accident kills family of five, injures six more on Eid al-Fitr

The number of accidents tends to spike around the holidays as many people go picnicking to rural areas in scenic parts of the Kurdistan Region.

The difficulty in maintaining these roads superimposed with drivers speeding on them is reportedly a leading cause of the rising incidents.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany