Two sisters drowned in pools in Wales’s largest national park, an inquest has heard.
Hajra Zahid, 29, and Haleema Zahid, 25, were pulled from pools on the Watkin Path – one of the six main routes to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon, in North Wales on 11 June.
North Wales Police said officers were called to the scene in Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, at 9.31pm after they received a report that a woman had been pulled from the water, and another was said to be in the pools.
Both sisters, who were born in Pakistan but lived in Maltsby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, were pronounced dead at the scene before 11pm.
Inquests into their deaths were opened at the Dafydd Orwig Chamber in Caernarfon on Wednesday, and assistant coroner for north-west Wales, Sarah Riley, said they “sadly both died as a result of drowning”.
“Investigations continue in terms of how they came by their death and the inquest is therefore adjourned to allow for completion of those investigations,” she added, as she offered her condolences to the sisters’ family and friends.
The coroner said the siblings “had travelled to the Nant Gwynant area with friends from university”, with a friend later identifying the University of Chester students.
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Vice-chancellor of the University of Chester, Professor Eunice Simmons, said: “The University of Chester community is in mourning for the tragic loss of Haleema Zahid and Hajra Zahid and our heartfelt sympathies are with their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time.
“Haleema and Hajra had joined Chester Business School earlier this year on the Master’s in International Business course.
“They touched the lives of many here at Chester – their friends, the cohort on their course and the staff who taught them – and they will be deeply missed.”
