Tuesday, 24 OCTOBER 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
A class VII student from a school in Uttar Pradesh drowned in the Ganga river in Rishikesh on Monday. The student was identified as Saqib Ahmad (15) who had come to visit Rishikesh with a group of 60 students. According to locals, Ahmad was bathing in the river along with his friends when he got carried away by the strong water current, said the officials. They said that the Lakshmanjhula police station received information in the afternoon that a child had drowned in the river near an Ashram in the Phoolchatti area after which the search and rescue team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was called to the spot. A team under the supervision of the head constable of SDRF Kishore Kumar along with equipment reached the location to conduct a search operation. The officials said that the teams initially looked for the teenage boy at the nearby places from where he was swept away. When they did not find him, they started looking at all possible places including Pashulok Barrage. The team looked for the boy till late evening but could not find him, said the officials. They said that it is very unlikely that the boy survived after drowning in the river but the SDRF will resume its search on Tuesday.
