Hajra Zahid, 29, and her sister Haleema, 25, who couldn't swim, were pulled from the water at a popular national park in North Wales in June 2025
NEED TO KNOW
- Two sisters are thought to have drowned after wading fully clothed at a beauty spot in North Wales
- Mom-of-two Hajra Zahid, 29, and her sister Haleema Zahid, 25, were visiting the site with three male friends when the accident took place in June 2025
- Assistant Coroner for North West Wales, Sarah Riley, told the court investigating their deaths that the siblings’ deaths were “accidental,” and she also called them “extremely tragic”
Two sisters are believed to have drowned while wading fully clothed at a national park beauty spot in North Wales.
Married mother-of-two Hajra Zahid, 29, and her sister Haleema Zahid, 25, were pulled from the water at the Watkin Pools at Eryri National Park, in the Nant Gwynant area of Gwynedd. They had visited the picturesque area, known for its swimming site and waterfall, in the early evening of June 11, 2025, it was revealed at Caernarfon Coroner’s Court, ITV reported.
The pools are on the Watkin Path, which leads to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales.
The sisters — who were originally from Pakistan but had been living in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham — were with three male friends at the time of the tragedy. The women had been students with the men at the U.K.'s University of Chester, the BBC stated.
Credit: Getty
During their outing, the siblings and their male friends had decided to split up, the outlet noted. North Wales Police investigator Gutun Lake told the court that the sisters' friends had claimed this was for religious reasons and to respect the women’s privacy.
Hajra and Haleema then headed further up to the pools, but they failed to respond to repeated calls from their friends when it was time to leave, the BBC stated.
The siblings, who could not swim, were believed to have headed for a pool upstream on the Afon Cwm Llan river, U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported.
After calling out for Hajra and Haleema, the friends then spotted the women’s shoes and personal belongings by the water’s edge, the outlet stated.
"They came across Hajra floating face down," investigator Lake said, per the BBC. The friends managed to pull Hajra from the pool, but were unable to locate Haleema.
Credit: Getty
Members of the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team then entered the pool to retrieve Haleema, but both siblings were pronounced dead at the scene, the BBC noted.
Mountain rescuers told the court that it appeared that the sisters fell or slipped and were unable to get out of the water, the outlet reported. A post-mortem examination confirmed that they’d both drowned.
Assistant Coroner for North West Wales, Sarah Riley, told the court that she believes that the siblings had intended to go [wading] in the water, per ITV.
Riley said, “Having considered the evidence that neither could swim and that they were fully clothed, I am satisfied that neither sister went to swim or enter parts of the pool that would put them out of their depths in the water,” according to the outlet.
She said it’s possible that one of the siblings, or both, had fallen from an “exceptionally slippy” bit of rock at the edge of the pools, ITV noted. It was said in court that mountain rescuers had also slipped on the same rock.
It was concluded that Hajra and Haleema’s deaths were accidental. Riley believes they both sadly drowned after being unable to swim to safety, ITV stated.
She told the court, “I extend my sincere condolences to their friends and family. This is an extremely tragic case and my thoughts remain with them,” per the outlet.
The sisters had moved to the U.K. in January 2025 to study a Master’s degree in international business, ITV stated.
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Hajra’s husband, Hessham Minhas, paid tribute to his late wife in court, saying she “always placed herself at the [center] of family life,” the outlet noted.
He added, “She was a determined, ambitious woman who believed in the power of education and personal growth, with a dream of building a better future for herself and her family. Her memory lives on in the lives she touched and the family she left behind,” per ITV.
Meanwhile, Raja Azem, a friend of Haleema’s, said, “Haleema will remain in our hearts and prayers as a loving, daughter, sister and auntie,” the outlet reported.
The North West Wales Coroner’s Office didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. North Wales Police told PEOPLE they would not be releasing a statement on the matter.
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