Two students who had gone to visit the hydel project over Tungabhadra river in Karnataka’s Raichur drowned after falling into a canal located near the dam. The two students were part of a group of four who had gone to the dam on holiday, and had gone missing on Sunday, September 18. It has been reported that the students were trying to take a selfie when they slipped and fell.
The deceased students have been identified as Sujith and Vaibhav, both 16 years old. Sujith and Vaibhav were pre-university students, studying at the Vidyanidhi College in Doddaballapur, in Bangalore Rural district. The students had gone to the NR Shetty hydel project which is usually partially closed to the public.
According to the police, four students went for a picnic near Kalamala in Tungabhadra left bank canal. All four of them were trying to take selfies near the canal, when they slipped and fell into the water. While two of them were able to swim to safety, the other two drowned in the water. The Raichur rural police and fire force personnel rushed to the spot and began rescue operations. After a day’s search, the bodies of two students were retrieved from a canal near the hydel project and were taken to the RIMS hospital. Further investigation is underway.
In April 2022, two Karnataka college students similarly drowned while trying to take pictures at St Mary’s Island in Karntaka’s Udupi district. The two students have been identified as Sathish Nandihalli, who hailed from Haveri district, and Sathish Kalyan, who is from Bagalkote. Both were in their early 20s, reports said.
According to reports, the two were both students of GKVK Agricultural University located in Bengaluru, and had gone to Malpe beach on the island with around 60 other students as part of a college tour. Four teachers and a tour guide were also a part of the group that went to the beach on the day the students drowned.
(With IANS inputs)
