JOIN USTeen washed away in stormwater drain
An 15-year-old boy was washed away in a stormwater drain (SWD) behind Manyata Tech Park near Veeranahalli in Sampigehalli police limits on Wednesday noon.
Police identified the deceased as Prakash, 15, a 9th class student at a private school. He was residing with his parents Venkatesh, a painter, and Jaya, an attendant at a school in DJ Halli.
On Wednesday afternoon, Prakash, along with his brother Surya, 18, and their friend Charles, 19, had gone near the stormwater drain to play in the water. As they were swimming, the water-level in the SWD increased suddenly. Surya and Charles managed to get out of the SWD but Prakash, who could not react swiftly, was washed away in the strong current, said the police.
Prakash’s brother and friend tried in vain to pull him out of the drain. They alerted the passersby who informed the police and fire and emergency services department. The fire department personnel carried out the operation to fish out the body for over three hours. They called off operations due to bad light. A police officer said, “It is not exactly a stormwater drain but is more like a channel which carried water from one lake to another. There is also a huge pipe which is like a culvert. The water from Jakkur lake started flowing at a high speed. As the water was entering the huge pipe, a whirlpool was created and Prakash was sucked in and washed away.”
A fire official said, “Due to the constant rains, water from one of the lakes in Yelahanka flowed into Jakkur lake. From Jakkur lake, the water was flowing towards Rachenahalli lake and as it reached the channel, the force was high and resulted in the incident.”
A case has been registered at the Sampigehalli police station and the rescue operation will be resumed on Thursday.
Youth drowns
In another incident, a 19-year-old youth drowned in Dasarahalli lake on Wednesday afternoon. According to police, the deceased has been identified as Adil, a resident of Tannery road and son of Akram, a fruit vendor.
Adil, a mechanic, ventured into the lake along with two of his friends. As they were swimming, his friends noticed Adil struggling to stay afloat. Some locals jumped into the water and rescued Adil and rushed him to Ambedkar Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.